What American Majority Wants: Polls

[grahamhgreen]

What American Majority Wants: Polls

Along with the polling data on the The American Majority Project’s polling page, here is some info from recent polls:

Infrastructure investment:

Democracy Corps, November 2012:

52 percent agree that “we should invest now in infrastructure, education and technology, and re-hiring teachers and firefighters to get people back to work to make our country stronger in the long-term.”

Washington Post/ABC News, September 2012:

52 percent agreed that “spending money on projects like roads, bridges and technology development” was a better way for the government to create jobs than tax cuts.

YouGov, Dec 2012:

43 percent said President Obama’s plan for $50 billion in immediate new infrastructure spending was a “good idea;A only 28 percent said it was a bad idea.

NBC, Feb 2011:

71% percent of all respondents support Obama’s plan to spend $53 billion on high-speed rail and $30 billion on a national infrastructure bank.

Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation, August 2012:

63 percent believe that “additional spending on roads, bridges, and other public works projects” would help, not hurt, the economy.

Clarus Research Group, conducted for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, December 2012:

77% percent believe the infrastructure in their state and throughout America “is in serious need of rebuilding and modernizing,” and 68% percent agree we need to make investments to build up our infrastructure to compete with foreign countries that are doing so.
Modernizing infrastructure is seen as “both a safety and economic issue” by 90% of voters nationwide.
A solid majority (61%) say the best way to pay for infrastructure improvements is to “use a combination of
funding sources such as some additional tax revenues, user fees and private investment.
84% of voters believe that “If the United States can afford to spend billions of dollars rebuilding the
infrastructure in foreign countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, we can afford to do the same here at home.”
68% of voters nationwide say that the United States needs to make investments to build up our infrastructure
to compete with foreign countries that are doing so.

Carbon tax, oil companies, alternatives:

Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, November, 2011:

90 percent of Americans say developing sources of clean energy should be a very high (30%), high (35%), or medium (25%) priority for the president and Congress, including 82 percent of registered Republicans, 91 percent of Independents, and 97 percent of Democrats.
65 percent of Americans support a revenue neutral carbon tax that would “help create jobs and decrease pollution,” including majorities of registered Republicans (51%), Independents (69%), and Democrats (77%).
Likewise, 60 percent of Americans support a $10 per ton carbon tax if the revenue were used to reduce federal income taxes, even when told this would “slightly increase the cost of many things you buy, including food, clothing, and electricity.” This policy is supported by 48 percent of registered Republicans, 50 percent of Independents, and 74 percent of Democrats.
49 percent of Americans support a revenue neutral carbon tax if the revenue was instead returned to each American family equally as an annual check. Only 44 percent support this policy if the revenues were instead used to pay down the national debt.
69 percent of Americans oppose federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, including 67 percent of registered Republicans, 80 percent of Independents, and 68 percent of Democrats.
54 percent of Americans oppose subsidies to the ethanol industry to make fuel from corn, including 56 percent of registered Republicans, 65 percent of Independents, and 49 percent of Democrats.
85 percent of Americans (including 76% of registered Republicans, 83% of Independents, and 90% of Democrats) say that protecting the environment either improves economic growth and provides new jobs (54%), or has no effect (31%). Only 15 percent say environmental protection reduces economic growth and costs jobs.

Taxes:

Hart Research, February 2013:

66% say that the richest 2% should pay more in taxes. 64% say large corporations should pay more in taxes.
Only 28% of voters believe that the fiscal cliff bill passed on New Year’s Day raised taxes on the rich enough, while more than twice as many (59%) say that we still need to do more.
66% say close loopholes and limit deductions for wealthy individuals to reduce the budget deficit and make public investments. 23% want to reduce tax rates.

TIPP/Investor’s Business Daily Poll, April, 2012:

51% say tax capital gains same rate as income vs 35% say keep current low rate.

Rasmussen (!), November 2012:

57 % of voters say they agree with the president’s proposal to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 per year. 35% oppose that move.

Quinnipiac University, December 2012:

65% of voters back increased taxes for Americans making more than $250,000 a year, 31 percent oppose.
Voters said a “no-taxes” pledge isn’t a good idea, 85-10 percent.

Also

Voters overwhelmingly oppose cutting Medicaid spending, 70-25 percent.
Voters oppose gradually raising the Medicare eligibility age, 51-44 percent.

Jobs:

Gallup, November 2012:

95% say restoring the job market is a top priority.

Public Policy Polling, November 2012:

49 % say President Obama’s mandate following his reelection is to focus on jobs. 22% say the president’s mandate involved reducing the debt.
36% said that the president was tasked with striking a compromise with congressional Republicans.

Assist those in need:

Food Action and Research Center, various polls:

“The opposition to cutting food stamps crossed party lines: 92 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Independents, and 63 percent of Republicans say this is the wrong way to reduce spending.” this amounts to 72% of all voters who think food stamps are a positive thing for the country
“Only nine percent of those polled said they would be more likely to support a candidate who favors cutting funds for the food stamp program; half said they would be less likely.”
“Opposition to food stamp cuts is even more overwhelming than in polling data FRAC released in November 2010, when 71 percent said it was the wrong way to cut spending.”
“Voters are broadly concerned about the nation’s hunger problem: 81 percent say that low-income families and children not being able to afford enough food to eat is a serious problem.”

Hart Research for AFL-CIO. November 7, 2012.

88% of respondents favor allowing Medicare to negotiate drug policies.

Other:

Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2013:

61% of Americans are not willing to see any cuts to public education.
Only 21% of Americans favor major reductions in Unemployment insurance

Gallup, December 2010:

66% of Americans supported the extension of unemployment insurance in 2010

What This Means

These polls (and so many others not listed here) are simply overwhelming.

In other words, the Congressional Progressive Caucus “Back To Work Budget” reflects what voters voted for and what polls show people want. And, much more importantly, the CPC “Back To Work Budget” reflects what history and economists tell us will fix the economy and boost the standard of living for regular Americans!


http://mediamatters.org/research/progmaj/

[SamKnause]

1. Polls

In the words of Jon-Luc Picard, "Make it so".

[ProSense]

2. Unfortunately,

NBC, Feb 2011:

71% percent of all respondents support Obama’s plan to spend $53 billion on high-speed rail and $30 billion on a national infrastructure bank.

...Republicans don't care what the "American Majority Wants."

In September 2011, Republicans blocked the President's job plan.

The Jobs Program That Wasn’t

Macroeconomic Advisers on the American Jobs Act, proposed a year ago:

We estimate that the American Jobs Act (AJA), if enacted, would give a significant boost to GDP and employment over the near-term.

-The various tax cuts aimed at raising workers’ after-tax income and encouraging hiring and investing, combined with the spending increases aimed at maintaining state & local employment and funding infrastructure modernization, would:
-Boost the level of GDP by 1.3% by the end of 2012, and by 0.2% by the end of 2013.
-Raise nonfarm establishment employment by 1.3 million by the end of 2012 and 0.8 million by the end of 2013, relative to the baseline

Of course, it that had happened, Obama would be more or less a lock for reelection. Instead, having blocked the president’s economic plans, Republicans can point to weak job growth and claim that the president’s policies have failed.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/the-jobs-program-that-wasnt/

From the OP:

88% of respondents favor allowing Medicare to negotiate drug policies.

Again, there are two proposals, and neither one of them will pass the House. In fact, they'll likely be filibustered by Senate Republicans.

Obama budget is a disaster for drugmakers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022670043

Bill Introduced to Begin Rollback of High Medicare Drug Prices
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022725266

[Mass]

3. For a moment, I thought you were saying people wanted polls.

[freshwest]

4. 2014.

[HiPointDem]

5. In other words, americans have a liberal economic agenda, whether social liberal or conservative.

[Iliyah]

6. Most of what Pres O

has promoted would have created tons of jobs and I think we would be if not, out of the recession. The 1-2% paying their fair share of taxes, loopholes closed, and corporations paying their taxes and shutting down subsides. But the GOP party don't want America's economy to get better but get worse.

2014 vote them out!

[L0oniX]

7. They forgot to poll on...

Does congress have the majority of US people's best interests in mind?

[nineteen50]

8. The 1% are

making a killing with the economy just the way it is, there will be no changes.