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Donald Trump pledged to raise taxes on the rich during his 2016 campaign; then he turned around after winning and signed a $1.5 trillion tax cut into law that mostly benefitted the nation’s wealthiest. That GOP tax law remains deeply unpopular to this day, with just 30 percent of Americans supporting it, while 48 percent oppose it, according to a Civiqs survey released this week.
What is popular is the concept of raising taxes on America's wealthiest individuals. A recent Politico survey found that 76 percent of voters think the rich should pay more. In addition, a New York Times poll showed 62 percent support for the idea that "the government pursue policies to reduce the wealth gap." As Democratic hopefuls begin to view taxing the rich as both good policy and good politics, they are increasingly seizing on the issue.
“This is about politicians catching up to where Americans have been,” Leslie McCall, a political scientist at the CUNY Graduate Center, told the Times.
For Democrats, the issue also has the benefit of being viewed through a moral lens by their base. “They’re not paying their fair share,” Democratic voter Fred Wood, a retired teacher from Pennsylvania, told the Times. “It’s just not right when folks cannot afford health care.”
But support for plans to increase taxes on the rich does vary according to the details. A proposal from 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren for a 2 percent tax on wealth over $50 million draws 61 percent support overall, according to the Times poll. Even 51 percent of Republicans favored that plan, as did 57 percent of independents and 75 percent of Democrats.
The more straightforward plan from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of raising the marginal tax rate on people making more than $10 million to 70 percent still garnered majority support, 51 percent, but wasn't quite as popular as Warren's "wealth tax," the details of which are still murky at this point. Democratic voters still like the AOC plan just as much at 75 percent, but a bare majority of independents support it, while just 31 percent of Republicans do.
Whatever the particulars, the issue is ripe, and we're likely to see a lot more plans in the making. Michael Linden, a fellow at the liberal Roosevelt Institute, says the increase could come through multiple vehicles. “I bet it will be a lot of medium-sized things," he explained. "A higher top rate, for sure. Rooting out or limiting some of the tax expenditures that disproportionately benefit the rich. I think the corporate rate will start to creep back up. And I think new taxes like a wealth tax, or some other form of capital taxation, are very likely.”
