Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Slate — Trump and the GOP Have Massively Unpopular Tax Policies


That populist revolt isn't getting off to roaring start.
There is no more unifying issue for the Republican elites than support for massive tax cuts for the rich. Three weeks after the election of Donald Trump, it might be their only defining issue. Among voters, however, support for this policy is incredibly unpopular. Not only do a clear majority of voters oppose the idea of cutting taxes for the rich, this opposition also bridges partisan divides, geographic divides, and even income levels.…
Dislike of the actual mechanisms of the Republican economic policy are not constrained to tax cuts for the rich. Closely related to tax cuts, the Republican elite, including Trump, is relatively unified in supporting cuts to government regulation. But 42 percent of all voters nationwide favor more government regulations for business, as supposed to only 33 percent in disagreement. Similarly, 51 percent of all voters nationwide favor a stronger government role in reducing income inequality, as opposed to only 26 percent in disagreement. Even among Republicans, support for a more active government role is sizable, with 47 percent out of all Republicans with a stated preference agreeing.
Even as people pin their hopes on Trump for economic growth, the actual mechanism of Republican elite economic policy is extremely unpopular. Meanwhile, the other party’s economic program remains very popular. You might not have known that from its standard-bearer’s presidential campaign, but our data is explicit on this count. On economic matters, the country leans to the left. Perhaps someone should tell the Democrats.
Slate
Trump and the GOP Have Massively Unpopular Tax Policies
Sam Corbett-Davies, Tobias Konitzer, and David Rothschild

1 comment:

beowulf said...

Curiously enough, Trump's Treasury pick seems to get this. Contra the wisdom of philosopher king Paul Ryan, Mnuchin seems to get that you can't make the tax code more efficient if the public thinks its just an excuse to give tax cuts to the rich.

High-income households won’t receive an “absolute tax cut” under a Trump tax plan, the president-elect’s new pick for Treasury secretary said Wednesday, a promise at odds with tax proposals from Donald Trump and House Republicans.

“Any reductions we have in upper-income taxes will be offset by less deductions so that there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class,” Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC. “There will be a big tax cut for the middle class, but any tax cuts we have for the upper class will be offset by less deductions that pay for it.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-treasury-choice-says-reforming-tax-code-is-priority-1480518752