|
| President Barack Obama smiles as he is introduced by Jim McNerney, chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, before speaking about the fiscal cliff during an address before the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers, Wednesday, Dec. 5,2012, in Washington. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Americans prefer letting tax cuts expire for the country's top
earners, as President Barack Obama insists, while support has declined
for cutting government services to curb budget deficits, an Associated
Press-GfK poll shows. Fewer than half the Republicans polled favor
continuing the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.
There's
also a reluctance to trim Social Security, Medicare or defense
programs, three of the biggest drivers of federal spending, the survey
released Wednesday found. The results could strengthen Obama's hand in
his fiscal cliff duel with Republicans, in which he wants to raise taxes
on the rich and cut spending by less than the GOP wants.
As
Obama and Republicans joust over ways to avoid tumbling over the cliff
when the new year begins, the poll offers scant evidence that the public
is willing to sacrifice much when it comes to specific cuts in the name
of budget austerity.
Social Security,
Medicare and defense account for just over half the $3.8 trillion the
government is projected to spend this year. Voters typically voice
support for deficit reduction but shy away from painful, detailed cuts
to achieve it.
In the poll, 48 percent said
tax cuts should expire in January on earnings over $250,000 but continue
for lower incomes. An additional 32 percent said the tax cuts should
continue for everybody, which has been the view of Republican lawmakers
who say raising taxes on the wealthy would squelch their ability to
create jobs. Thirteen percent said the tax cuts dating back to 2001 and
2003 should end for all.
"If you are fortunate
and have some extra, you need to help those who don't," said Robin
Keck, 49, of Golden Valley, Minn., who owns a framing business and
supports ending tax cuts for the rich. "I believe people who have more
money generally find more uses for it than putting other people to
work."
A November 2010 AP-CNBC poll showed
similar support for allowing the cuts to expire for people with the
largest incomes. Polling earlier in that year had shown a preference for
continuing the cuts for everyone, including the wealthy.
Support
for renewing the tax cuts for everyone has ebbed among Republicans
since 2010, dropping from a high of 74 percent just after the GOP
recaptured the House in that year's elections to 48 percent now. Among
Democrats, support for allowing tax cuts for the wealthy to expire was a
robust 61 percent, though down slightly from two years ago.
Unless
the two parties strike a deal, the new year will begin with the
triggering of broad spending cuts plus tax boosts on almost every
taxpayer. Economists warn that the brew of sharp deficit cuts -
nicknamed the fiscal cliff - could revive the recession.
The
battle is occurring when the public trusts the two parties about
equally to handle the deficits. Democrats have a slight edge on handling
taxes but enjoy a much bigger preference when it comes to addressing
Medicare, according to the poll.
Obama was
re-elected last month insisting that taxes be raised on the rich as
their contribution to deficit reduction. He has proposed continuing
Bush-era tax cuts for all but the country's top earners, letting taxes
rise on income exceeding $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for
couples.
Though Republican lawmakers have long
opposed raising taxes on the highest earners, GOP leaders have proposed
curbing unspecified tax deductions to avert the fiscal cliff, raising
revenue that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says could come from
upper-income people.
The new poll found that,
by 46 percent to 30 percent, more favor cutting government services to
raising taxes to tackle budget deficits. That sentiment echoes the view
of the GOP, which has emphasized spending cuts during four years of
budget battles with Obama.
Yet support for
trimming government services has dropped in AP-GfK polls. It was 56
percent last February and 62 percent in March 2011.
Still,
Ray Wilkins, 58, of Belton, Mo., a warehouse worker, said, "The
government's gotten too big. The federal government tries to do just
about everything."
Thirteen percent said
budget balancing efforts should focus equally on service cuts and higher
taxes, more than doubling that sentiment in previous polls.
When it comes to specifics, people are leery.
By
48 percent to 40 percent, more oppose proposals to gradually raise the
eligibility age for Medicare from 65. Only 3 in 10 support slowing the
growth of annual Social Security benefits. And more people oppose than
favor cutting military spending.
Sentiments
about culling savings from Social Security and Medicare were similar
among Democrats and Republicans. The strongest opposition to raising the
Medicare eligibility age came from people ages 30 to 64. People 50 to
64 were most opposed to slowing the growth of Social Security benefits.
Just over half of Democrats favor cutting defense; two-thirds of Republicans oppose it.
People
were about evenly split over an idea voiced by defeated GOP
presidential candidate Mitt Romney to put a dollar limit on taxpayers'
deductions.
Another idea - ending the tax
deduction for home mortgage interest in exchange for lower income tax
rates - was favored 42 percent to 33 percent, slightly less support than
the proposal received in 2010. Homeowners were closely divided over the
proposal.
Just over half the poll respondents
say they doubt Obama will be able to reduce budget deficits during his
remaining four years in office. In his first days in office in 2009,
more people than not thought he would be able to do so.
The
poll found little change in the nation's partisan makeup after the
contentious presidential election campaign, with 33 percent saying they
consider themselves Democrats, 23 percent Republicans and 27 percent
independents. That's about the same as in AP-GfK polling over the past
six months.
The Associated Press-GfK poll was
conducted Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate
Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,002
adults nationwide. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 3.9 percentage points.
