Poll: Americans Say Dems, GOP Equally At Fault In Super Committee Bust

Most Americans are joining the blame game over the recent “super” failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, only they’re pointing at both parties rather than isolating one. 

According to a new Gallup poll, 55 percent of Americans say both Democratic and Republican members of the committee share the responsibility for its failure at trimming at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit over the next ten years. 

However, those surveyed who pointed to one party over the other believe that Republicans are more at fault for the super committee’s inability to reach an agreement than their Democratic counterparts, 24 to 15 percent, respectively. 

Figures show that by a 2 to 1 margin, Americans wanted the bipartisan, bicameral group to compromise their views on taxes and entitlement reform more than had already been offered. 

Not all Americans wanted their party’s members to reach further across the aisle as a means to reach a deal. According to the poll, Republicans are divided in their views of whether the super committee should have compromised more or was right to let negotiations falter. Just 44 percent of Republicans surveyed said more should have been done while 42 percent believe committee members were right to refuse a deal that did not reflect their views. 

Results from the poll are based on phone interviews conducted on Nov. 21, 2011. Just over 1,000 adults were surveyed from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Poll: Americans Favor Jobs Plan, Taxing Rich

President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as a method of paying for the American Jobs Act has gained some considerable support from the American public, according to recent poll figures. 

A new poll released by Gallup found that seven in ten Americans favor increasing taxes on corporations by eliminating tax loopholes. Additionally, 66 percent also favor proposed tax rate increases on individuals earning more than $200,000 and families earning more than $250,000. 

Among conservative voters, 53 percent agree on eliminating corporate tax deductions while just 41 percent favor tax hikes on individual and household incomes. Comparatively, nearly 86 percent of Democrats and those leaning to the left favor hiked taxes on both entities. 

Additionally, poll figures found that Americans generally approve of the President’s jobs plan. Most notably, a proposal that would provide tax cuts for small businesses , which includes incentives to hire workers, garnered wide bipartisan support with Republican and Democratic voters, 84 and 87 percent, respectively.  

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted between Sept. 15-18 with a random sample of 1,004 adults over the age of 18. 

New Poll Shows More Favor Letting Tax Cuts For Top Earners Expire

A new Gallup poll out today reveals that more Americans would support allowing tax cuts for the nation’s most wealthy individuals to expire at the end of the year.

44% of those surveyed said the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration should be renewed next year for people making less than $250,000 per year, but not for those making more than that. Comparatively, 37% said they would vote to keep the tax cuts in place for all taxpayers. 15% said they would allow all the tax cuts to expire.

The debate in Washington this fall promises to center around the issue of what to do about the tax cuts. President Barack Obama has made it clear that he supports raising taxes on the top two percent of Americans, while keeping in place tax cuts for all other income earners. The Obama administration believes that doing so would generate $700 billion in revenue.

Republicans, however, have unitedly called for extending the cuts for all. According to House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), “this would help ease the uncertainty employers and entrepreneurs are facing so they can get back to creating jobs.”

The Gallup poll indicates that views on what to do about the tax cuts fall generally along partisan lines. Among those who said they would vote to extend the complete package of cuts, 54% identified themselves as Republican, compared to just 18% who said they were Democrats. Meanwhile, 60% of Democrats that were surveyed said they favored eliminating the cuts for the wealthy. 32% of Republicans who responded agreed.

Congress will likely take up the issue when it returns to session next week, but immediate action is not expected. The struggle over what to do could take weeks, especially with most lawmakers looking ahead to the November elections. Though the president will continue to call for swift legislation, the White House seems to be acknowledging the ideological battle that will surely occur on Capitol Hill. Just this week, recently resigned OMB Director Peter Orszag urged lawmakers to extend the entire package of cuts.

“[T]he best approach is a compromise: extend the tax cuts for two years and then end them altogether,” he wrote in an editorial featured in the New York Times. “Ideally only the middle-class tax cuts would be continued for now. Getting a deal in Congress, though, may require keeping the high-income tax cuts, too. And that would still be worth it.”