Poll: Public sours on GOP tax plan as Democrats regain lead on economy

WASHINGTON — The tax plan that Republicans are soon expected to pass has grown more unpopular in the last two months, with nearly two-thirds of Americans believing it’s designed mostly to help corporations and the wealthy, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

In addition, the survey finds that Democrats have overtaken Republicans on which party better handles the economy — their first lead on this question since 2013 and their largest since 2009.

But it also shows that Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, believe President Donald Trump’s approach has made the economy better rather than worse, which is one of the bright spots for the GOP in the poll.

“A president is getting credit for the economy improving and not deriving political value from it,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollsters from Hart Research Associates, referring to Trump’s 41 percent job-approval rating in the poll. “We are watching things we have not seen before in my career.”

According to the poll — which was conducted before the House and Senate voted on the tax bill — 24 percent of Americans say that the Trump-backed tax plan is a good idea, versus 41 percent who believe it’s a bad idea.

That’s an increase in unpopularity from October, when 35 percent said it was a bad idea, and 25 percent said it was a good idea.

In the current poll, 53 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Trump general election voters give the tax plan a thumbs-up, while 67 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Hillary Clinton voters give it a thumbs-down.

Notably, just 28 percent of rural Americans and 29 percent of whites without a college degree — key parts of Trump’s 2016 base — say it’s a good idea.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/poll-public-sours-on-gop-tax-plan-as-democrats-regain-lead-on-economy/ar-BBH2Rjo?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp