55% Oppose Tax Hike In Debt Ceiling Deal
Thursday, July 14, 2011
As the Beltway politicians try to figure out how they will raise the debt ceiling and for how long, most voters oppose including tax hikes in the deal.
Just 34% think a tax hike should be included in any legislation to raise the debt ceiling. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% disagree and say it should not.
There is a huge partisan divide on the question. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats want a tax hike in the deal while 82% of Republicans do not. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 35% favor a tax hike and 51% are opposed.
Americans who earn more than $75,000 a year are evenly divided as to whether a tax hike should be included in the debt ceiling deal. Those who earn less are opposed to including tax hikes.
Voters remain very concerned about the debt ceiling issue. Sixty-nine percent (69%) believe that it would be bad for the economy if a failure to raise the debt ceiling led to government defaults. Only 6% believe it would be good for theeconomy. Fourteen percent (14%) believe it would have no impact and 11% are notsure. These figures are little changed from a few weeks ago.
At the same time, however, 52% believe it would beeven more dangerous to raise the debt ceiling without making significant cuts in government spending. Thirty-seven percent (37%) take the opposite view and believe a government default would be more dangerous.
The national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 12-13, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points witha 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.See methodology.
Eighty-five percent (85%) of voters are following the debt ceiling story at least Somewhat Closely. That figure includes 48% who are following it Very Closely. Older voters are following the story more closely than younger voters.
Thirty-eightpercent (38%) believe the president has done a good or an excellent job handling the debt ceiling debate while 41% say he has done a poor job. Predictably, 74% of Democrats give him good or excellent marks while 71% of Republicans say he’s doing a poor job. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 31% give the president good or excellent marks on this topic while 42% say he’s doing a poor job.
Overall, the president’s Job Approval ratings have been remarkably stable for the past year-and-a-half. With only modest exceptions, his totalapproval numbers have stayed in the mid-to-high 40s since the end of 2009.
By a 59% to19% margin, Political Class voters favor a tax hike in the debt ceiling deal. By a 68% to 22% margin, Mainstream voters take the opposite view (for more on the Political Class-Mainstream classification, click here.
Data released earlier shows that most Americans believe tax hikes are bad for the economy and spending cuts are good.
Consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in twoyears and most Americans now believe their own personal finances are getting worse.
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