Americans generally favor raising taxes on higher-income Americans and eliminating tax deductions for some corporations as ways of paying for President Barack Obama’s proposed jobs plan, a new Gallup poll says. In terms of the impact of the bill, 65 percent say they think it will help create jobs and 60 percent believe it will help improve the economy.
Even among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, 53 percent support ending some corporate tax deductions. Only 41 percent agree with raising taxes on wealth individuals, however. More than 80 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners favor both proposals.
The public strongly supports proposals to provide tax cuts for small businesses; funds to hire teachers, police officers and firefights; tax breaks for companies that hire the long-term unemployed and money for repairing schools and other public works projects. Fifty-six percent support extending unemployment benefits, but the poll found people split on reducing Social Security taxes.
(Telephone survey of 1,004 adults; MOE +/- 4 percentage points.)