A new McClatchy-Marist Poll shows a clear majority of Americans wants policymakers to reach a bipartisan deal on debt reduction, and supports higher taxes on income above $250,000.
But after these basic truths, the consensus shifts in the other direction — Americans oppose letting all Bush-era rates expire, oppose ending the payroll tax break, oppose cutting social insurance programs for the elderly, and oppose raising the Medicare eligibility age. Indeed, perhaps the most striking result is the fact that self-identified Republicans oppose debt-reduction measures — including spending cuts.
GOP voters also, of course, oppose any kind of tax increase on anyone at any income level.
Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said that when it comes to Republican voters and every debt-reduction idea, “There’s opposition to everything…. If you’re a Republican in Congress looking for what Republican voters are telling you, they’re not telling you much.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."