Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Who Represents 81% of Us???
Fix US economy poll: 81% Say Tax Rich and/or Cut Military; 3% Say Cut Social Security
From CBS News:
As Washington gears up for a fight over federal spending and the national debt, lawmakers may want to consider some new polling figures.
A survey from CBS News' "60 Minutes" and Vanity Fair magazine shows that most Americans, given a set limited choices for balancing the national budget, would prefer to see taxes increased for the wealthy.
As many as 61 percent said they would prefer increasing taxes on the rich over three other options: cutting defense spending, cutting Medicare or cutting Social Security. Another 20 percent chose cutting defense spending as the best option. Just 4 percent said they would cut Medicare, and just 3 percent said they would cut Social Security.
Perhaps not surprisingly, those with higher incomes were less inclined to say increasing taxes on the wealthy would be the best option. Nevertheless, as many as 46 percent of Americans making more than $100,000 said it was the best option -- 26 points higher than the next-preferred option, cutting defense spending.
more...The poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 1,067 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone Nov. 29-Dec. 2, 2010.
21 Comments so far
Show AllSo there you go. More taxes and more war. That's what Americans want. When all these warmonger scumbags choose cutting defense spending more than increasing taxes on the rich then I'll be impressed. This is same old attitude that Americans have had for decades. Americans like war and when there's more tax money then there will be more war and more bombing of civilians. If you support increasing taxes than you are supporting genocide. What was the first thing the federal government did with their "Treasury of Virtue" after the Civil War? They went on a genocidal rampage across America slaughtering Indians. What did the Progressives of the Progressive Era do with their new income tax money and the newly established Federal Reserve? They sent Americans to die in Europe. What about FDR? Internment camps, mass slaughter of civilians with the unnecessary bombing of everywhere from Hiroshima to Dresden. Then Truman Doctrine and the start of the Cold War and the military-industrial complex and the great expansion of military operations and curtailing of civil liberties that continue today in everything from the abusive TSA policies to the drones in Pakistan. More taxes will bring more death, more war, more bombs. You can count on it.
This survey shows how little Americans care about the bloated defense budget and how much they just care about punishing rich people. And the irony is that hundreds of thousands of poor people will be slaughtered using the tax money that was gained by making the world more fair and equal by taxing the rich. That's the way it works and no one cares, least of all progressives and liberals who just look the other way as long as the government is pursuing some vaguely socialist agenda, they don't care about all the death that their beloved government is causing. How low and disgusting is that? The lack of morals of people who call themselves "liberal" today is completely appalling. Personally I think all federal taxes should be abolished and the defense budget almost eliminated except for what's necessary to protect us from actual invasion by Mexico or Canada. One million dollars for each soldier each year to be equipped and supported in Afghanistan, 5 millions dollars for each drone, half of which crash into hills shortly after being launched!!! And hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed, maimed, tortured and yet the most important option is to tax some people more. Disgusting.
You are WAY out on a limb with your "all federal taxes should be abolished" talk. Didn't you notice how many want to keep medicare and SS, for instance?
It is called a warfare-welfare state for a reason. They are part of the same "deal." People have to realize if they agree to take handouts from organized crime syndicates like the federal government and support any of their programs, there will be brutality against others as a result. The government just spends the social security money right away on killing civilians, they don't actually put it in a savings account. It's up to you to decide what's more important to you, taking a handout from the government or preventing the genocidal bombing of other nations. I would prefer the latter.
Please people; THINK! ANALYSE!
The poll was structured so you could make ONLY ONE choice from the list (that is how Abby is mathematically justified in using her 81% figure). So, 20% choosing the "cut defense" option DOES NOT IMPLY that only 20% of the sample of USAns want to cut defense. It is likely that a great majority of the 61% of the sample choosing to raise taxes on the rich ALSO want to cut defense too, but they were given only one choice in the poll, and preferred the tax option by some small increment.
¿Entiende?
¡Sí, entiendo!
Yours are critical points: given the choice, possibly as many would defund the wars as raise taxes on the aristocracy. This poll is really an encouraging surprise. The American people are more perceptive than I’d thought.
"The American people are more perceptive than I’d thought."
This has always been the case, as Chomsky often points out in his talks.
The corporate mass media goes through great effort to make USAns think that most USAns have far more callous and reactionary views than their own. i maked them embarrassed to express the views and they shut up. The mechanism is one of "induced closeting" of the US left - make them think they are "queer" in the old sense of the word, and analogous to the new sense of the word - before the queers busted out of their closets and liberated themselves.
Remember the in-your-face queer protests, with the chants: "Were here! We're Queer! You better get used to it!"? The US left needs to start doing the same thing.
And Chomsky also says these kind of surveys are the ones that get buried and ignored by the FCM [fawning corporate media, to borrow from Ray McGovern].
I think the "american warmongering scumbag" angle might have been a polling issue. I wonder if you had added "end foreign occupation" as a fifth option in addition to "reducing defense spending" how many would have opted for that.
Only 20% chose cut defense. That makes it clear that at this time, our nation does not think cutting spending to reduce the deficit is a viable option. Without cutting defense, medicare, and or SS, trying to significantly reduce the deficit is impossible by spending cuts alone. That means raising taxes is the only viable option according to the public. This is completely at odds with the republican party. Of course the 'lower taxes don't matter when it comes to the deficit' bs will continue for at least a couple more years.
Who represents those 81% indeed!
Or the majority - on the order of 65% that supports medicare for all?
It certainly isn't the corporate media. Not at all suprisingly, this poll has been blacked out from the mainstram media. A search done a few minutes ago reveals no converage of this poll in the corporate media aside from a brief CBS news website article, and the article was aparently only linked to the front web page for a few minutes.
If those 81% rely on the corporate media for their information, they almost certainly probably wonder if thet were crazy for thinking the way they think. That's the brilliance of tha Bernaysean propaganda system - it leads even great majority to think "I must be crazy" for not agreeing with the propaganda. consequently, they don't dare express their views to their friends or neighbors - while their neigbors are thinking exactly the same thing! In other words, we have a majority of USans who are politically "in the closet" in exactly the same way gay people once were.
So let's get out of the closet. Everyone, please send these poll results to their new or returning congresspersons and their state represntatives tomorrow.
Has John seen this?
We working people paid into Social Security for our entire working lives. It's our money. Most of us could not lose it without falling instantly into cold, homeless hunger and dire in extremis poverty.
Don't be an ignorant libertarian with no benefits for anyone - let the women and children and elders die in the streets, eh?
Well, this poll would mean something if those in power cared. They don't, so it's just another number to them. Just like the Constitution is just a piece of paper.
I wonder what the results would be for EAT THE RICH?
no
no
yes
damn straight, where's the A1?
I like your class divisions...
It's hard to get your mind around how poor 98% of us are and how rich 2% of us are. We are headed for a feudal society FAST. Pension funds gone, savings gone, no SS, minimum wage at 0.
Please Google "The L curve: A graph of US income distribution" and read the little box to the right of the graph.
After seeing this, there need be no confusion.
Nothing is more simple.
For proof read "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn
You know nothing about my situation. You know nothing about me.
Get this: I am NOT a member of the 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' Crowd.
"... lawmakers may want to consider some new polling figures."
The only figures they ever consider for long are the figures on their campaign contributions. All others last through election day, and are then forgotten ...
Only 20% chose cutting "defense" spending for the waste that drains 58% of the federal discretionary budget, is the highest it has been since 1945 (in inflation-adjusted dollars), and equals the military spending of all other nations on earth COMBINED?
We have a hell of a lot of educating to do.
The Bush Crime Family destroyed many of us.
Unforeseen events will destroy them.
Message to Repugnican'ts:
KEEP YOUR F^(*!#G GREEDY HANDS OFF MY MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. THEY BETTER BOTH BE THERE WHEN I'M READY FOR THEM, OR I'LL HAVE TO COME AND TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR F^(*!#G GREEDY HIDES.
Progrssive....
I am shocked your post hasn't been removed by the censor of order and decorum.
I agree with you wholehertedly though. I have paid in 10's of thousands of dollars into SS starting with my first earned dollar at my first crappy job that I made a whopping $1.85/hr. You rich bastards will steal it from me at your own peril!
Who represents 81% of us? Unfortunately, not many. Polls do not matter to our corrupt politicians in Washington Deceit. The Government has plenty of $$ for social programs, it is just a matter of priority's. Increase taxes on the wealthy and cut offensive war spending would do it, but those priority's are "off the table".