Key findings from a nationwide survey among 1,006 voters conducted January 18

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Progressive Tax Reform Still A Winning Budget
Message
Key findings from a nationwide survey among 1,006
votersconducted January 18 22, 2013 for
2
Voters Still Want Top 2 To Pay More Taxes
April 201270186 66186 75534
The richest 2 Large corporations The middle class
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Pro-Tax Candidate Beats No-New-Taxes Candidate
Which candidate would you be more likely to
support on taxes?
Raise taxes on wealthy/corporations 83 47 30
60 50 61
Results were identical in April 2012 56 to 33.
No tax increase 11 34 58 30 38 29
Democrats Independents Republicans Obama
states Romney states 2014 Senate target states
Candidate who favors raising taxes on wealthy
and large corporations
Candidate who opposes any increase in taxes
All voters
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Voters After Fiscal Cliff, We Still Need To Do
More To Make Sure Wealthy Pay Fair Share
On January 1, Congress passed a bill to address
the fiscal cliff. With which statement about
the fiscal cliff and taxes do you agree more?
All voters
Still need to do more so wealthy pay fair
share 82 55 34 60 56 64
Bill raised taxes on rich enough 11 25 50 27
30 25
The fiscal cliff bill raised taxes on the rich
enough, and now the wealthy should not have to
pay any more in taxes
Democrats Independents Republicans Obama
states Romney states 2014 Senate target states
Candidate who opposes any increase in taxes
We still need to do more to make sure the wealthy
pay their fair share of taxes
5
Voters Reject A Cuts-Only Approach In Favor Of
Plan That Raises Revenue From Wealthy
Corporations
Which approach do you prefer for dealing with the
deficit?
6
But Voters Want Mix Of Revenue And Spending Cuts,
Not A Revenue-Only Package
Which approach do you prefer for dealing with the
deficit?
Voters worry about Democrats not getting spending
under control (43) as much as GOP cutting
important programs too much (39).
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Use Tax Reform Revenue For Public Investment And
Deficit Reduction, Not Rate Cuts
Congress is considering legislation to reform the
tax system by closing loopholes and limiting
deductions for wealthy individuals. How should
tax revenue raised from these reforms be used?
Reduce deficit publicinvestment 69 66 62 68
63 63
All voters
Reduce tax rate 21 21 27 24 23 22
Reduce the budget deficit and make public
investments
Democrats Independents Republicans Obama
states Romney states 2014 Senate target states
Reduce tax rates
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Publics Priorities on Taxes
This should be a very important goal for the new
budget bill
Ensure big corporations pay fair share of
taxes Close tax loopholes that benefit big
corporations Ensure rich pay their fair share of
taxes Reduce tax rates on all taxpayers Reduce
tax rateson corporations
9-10 ratings on zero-to-ten scale, 10
extremely important goal
9
Next Budget Agreement Should Include Revenue From
Wealthy And Corporations
On the next budget agreement, do you agree more
with Democrats or with Republicans?
All voters
Agree with Democrats 88 54 21 60 49 57
Agree with Republicans 10 37 76 36 45 40
DEMOCRATS budget should include new tax revenue
from limiting tax breaks for wealthy and
corporations, in addition to spending cuts
Democrats Independents Republicans Obama
states Romney states 2014 Senate target states
Agree much more 35
57
REPUBLICANS budget should include only spending
cuts, with no increase in taxes on anyone
Agree much more 23
39
10
Democrats Win Debate Over Need For Revenue In
Next Agreement
Concerning budget and taxes, with which statement
do you agree more?
REPUBLICANS Congress just passed a huge tax
increase, and already President Obama is
demanding more tax increases. But further tax
hikes will kill jobs, hurt our economy, and
endanger our children's future. Now we need to
cut spending on the wasteful government programs
that are the real source of our deficit. We don't
have a deficit problem because we tax too little,
we have it because we spend too much."
Agree strongly 29
37
DEMOCRATS It's wrong to balance the budget on
the backs of the middle class by relying only on
cuts to vital programs such as Medicaid and
education. Instead of taking away families'
health care, we should limit tax deductions for
the richest two percent. Instead of cutting
funding for schools, let's end tax breaks for
corporations that send jobs overseas. If we ask
the rich and large corporations to pay their fair
share, we can be fiscally responsible and protect
the middle class."
Agree strongly 44
55
11
Support For Tax Revenue from Wealthy
Eliminate loophole that allows hedge fund mgrs to
pay lower tax rate than middle class Place 5
surtax on income over 1 million per
year Eliminate loophole that allows wealthy to
avoid paying capital gains tax on inherited
stocks/bonds Limit deductions for people making
over 250,000/year Over 250K income end lower
tax rate on income from selling stocks/assets
Over 250K income end lower tax rate on
dividend income from stocks
75
73 favor (49 strongly) surtax on 10
million/more
67
60
55
52
48
12
Strong Support For Progressive CorporateTax
Reform Policies
Increase tax on U.S. corp-orations overseas
profits to ensure it is as much as tax on their
U.S. profits Ensure all corporations pay at least
25 on profits earned overseas Close loopholes
allowing corporations/wealthy to avoid U.S. taxes
by shifting income overseas Prevent corporations
from avoiding taxes when they award execs
millions in stock options Establish small tax on
all stock/bond/market trades (e.g., 3 on every
10K) Eliminate tax breaksfor oil companies
83
77
73
63
62
59
13
Strong Opposition To Specific Spending Cuts
Cut spending on K-12 public education Cut
Medicaid health program Reduce annual cost of
living increase for Social Security
benefits Raise age for Medicare eligibility from
65 to 67
13
83
17
80
29
65
39
58
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Democrats Have Winning Message On Limiting Tax
Breaks For Wealthy Individuals
Concerning taxes, with which statement do you
agree more?
DEMOCRATS Limiting the tax breaks that wealthy
people get will make the tax system more fair.
It's not right that the wealthy receive a larger
tax break than middle-class families when they
have a home mortgage, contribute to a 401k, or
pay property taxes."
Agree strongly 39
54
12 Democrats
REPUBLICANS "President Obama and the Democrats
just raised taxes on small businesses and many
families across America. Raising taxes again will
not solve Washington's spending problem, it will
only hurt our economy and destroy jobs."
Agree strongly 31
42
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Corporate Tax Reform
16
Little Support For Lowering Tax Rates On
Corporations
17
Strong Opposition To Ending Taxation On Foreign
Profits Of U.S. Corporations (Territorial Tax
System)
Do you approve or disapprove of allowing
corporations to not pay any U.S. taxes on profits
that they earn in foreign countries?
73
Strongly disapprove 57
Strongly Agree 40
20
Strongly approve 11
Disapprove
Approve
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Use Corporate Tax Reform Revenue For Public
Investment And Deficit Reduction, Not Rate Cuts
For which one of these should tax revenue from
closing corporate loopholes and limiting
deductions be used?
All voters
Reduce deficit/ make public investments 84 87 79
85 80 85
Reduce rates on corporations 11 10 13 10 13
8
Reduce the budget deficit and make public
investments
Democrats Independents Republicans Obama
states Romney states 2014 Senate target states
Reduce tax rates oncorporations
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Raising Revenue From Corporations Is Winning
Message For Democrats
Concerning corporate tax rates, with which
statement do you agree more?
REPUBLICANS America has the highest income tax
rates on businesses in the world. We need tax
reform that broadens the base by eliminating
loopholes, which will allow us to reduce
corporate tax rates. This kind of pro-growth tax
reform will make the system simpler, more fair,
grow our economy, and raise more revenue."
Agree strongly 23
37
21 Democrats
DEMOCRATS Big corporations use their lobbyists
and campaign contributions to rig the tax system
in their favor. Profitable oil companies get
billions in special tax breaks while large
companies like General Electric and Verizon pay
no federal income taxes some years. It's about
time big corporations started living by the same
rules as the rest of us."
Agree strongly 44
58
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Progressive Tax Reform Still A Winning Budget
Message
Key findings from a nationwide survey among 1,006
votersconducted January 18 22, 2013 for