Trump plans major tax cut for the rich but Americans want the exact opposite

by Melanie Schmitz at Think Progress

https://thinkprogress.org/as-trump-plans-major-tax-cut-for-rich-huge-majority-of-americans-think-wealthy-should-pay-more-e4936532e5f6/

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“As progressives strategize for the tax fight coming this fall, they open the debate with a clear advantage: public opinion is on their side,” researchers from the Mellman Group, the Global Strategy Group, Hart Research Associates, and the progressive Not One Penny Campaign noted in a release last week. “Not only do a majority of Americans believe the wealthy and corporations pay less than their fair share in taxes, but they think that their taxes should be raised – not lowered. This view is in direct contradiction to the tax plan being assembled by Republicans in Washington.”

The poll in question, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic in September, showed that 72 percent of registered voters favored “increasing taxes on Americans earning more than $250,000 a year”; 41 percent “strongly favor[ed]” raising taxes for the wealthy. Only 27 percent of registered voters were opposed. Nine percent of those polled said they were “in strong opposition.”

A Mellman Group survey last October reflected similar findings: among registered voters, 69 percent—including “42 percent of Republicans”— supported raising taxes for the wealthy. A poll conducted by the Global Strategy Group in April showed even higher numbers, with 88 percent of registered voters saying that “making sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes will help grow the economy.”

Trump’s tax plan, which he outlined earlier this year, would cut the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and would lower taxes for high-income earners from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. According to The New York Times, Trump’s plan would also “eliminate a 3.8 percent tax, used to help fund Obamacare, that applies to investment income over $250,000 for a couple.” It would also eliminate the estate tax—which applies to those with estates valued at $5.5 million or more—allowing millionaires to pass their fortunes onto their heirs tax-free. Upper-middle class earners would lose the federal tax deduction, significantly impacting those in high-tax states.


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