A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University[1]
in Virginia and released on Thursday found that 59% of Virginians polled
supported President Obama’s proposal to allow tax breaks lapse for Americans
making more than $250,000 a year.[2]
In other words, a majority
of Virginians polled approved of higher taxes for households making $250,000 or
more if it would shrink America’s budget deficit. Only 36% were opposed.
The survey’s margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.4
percentage points.
With a relatively conservative electorate like Virginia’s,
the results should come as a healthy signal to President Obama that his tax
policies for America’s wealthy are headed down the right path. That is, if a
majority of Virginian’s agree with President Obama’s supposedly liberal tax
policies, then one could argue that the same beliefs could also be applied to most
of the country.
The results of this new Quinnipiac poll also imply that the
majority of Virginians feel that wealthy Americans are not paying their fair
share towards our nation’s recovery from the trenches of debt. This should
embolden lawmakers, at least in Virginia, to more aggressively push for
Bush-era tax break lapses for American’s earning $250,000 or more a year.
That said, current income tax levels for all Americans are
simply too high. When I put myself in someone’s shoes who pays between 28% and 35%
in income tax[3], I
can well understand why tax avoidance is such a big business in America[4].
Whether you consider yourself a liberal or a conservative, it must be admitted
that this is a big chunk of change being taken.
Another way to look at it is like working for free for a
third of the year.
I don’t question the idea that the wealthy of America should
pay a larger percentage in taxes. It was the structure of our free market
system that allowed these individuals to gain their wealth, after all. I do,
however, question the high rates by which wealthy individuals and households
are supposed to be taxed at, pre-Bush tax cut levels[5].
Two policy goals must therefore be considered. First,
lowering the income tax rate levels that were in place prior to the Bush-tax
cuts. Second, making better use of the fewer taxpayer dollars that will be
entering the government system as a result of lower income tax rates.
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