Poll Finds Bipartisan Support for Wealth Tax

(CN) – A new poll shows that a majority of Americans, Democrat and Republican alike, support a wealth tax like the one proposed by 2020 presidential candidate and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the latest to follow other polls that show similar support for such a measure.

In the Politico/Morning Consult survey released Monday, 61 percent of registered voters said they support a wealth tax of 2 percent on households that earn more than $50 million and 3 percent on those who make more than $1 billion. Only 20 percent of those surveyed oppose the plan.

The poll found a majority of both Democrats and Republicans support the proposal, notable for the fact that Warren generally polls unfavorably with Republican voters. While Democrats support the measure 74 to 11 percent, Republicans favor it 50 percent to 30 percent.

The results come more than a year after President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a tax-cutting bill that most Americans viewed as helping the wealthy rather the middle and lower class. The Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 63 percent of voters said "upper income people" don't pay enough taxes.

Voters were also asked about a different wealth tax proposal from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., which found less support among all those polled. Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a marginal tax rate of 70 percent on households making over $10 million.

While 60 percent of Democrats support Ocasio-Cortez's plan, it was less popular than Warren's. Among Republicans, only 31 percent favor the freshman congresswoman's proposal and 49 percent oppose it.

The latest poll follows the same results of other polls such as one conducted by Fox News in late January. According to the Fox News poll, 70 percent of respondents said they favor increasing tax rates on those making more than $10 million and 65 percent said they would support increases on those making over $1 million.

A poll released last week by The Economist/YouGov showed 50 percent of Americans support Warren's tax plan, while only 23 percent oppose.

In an interview with Politico, Warren – a Democrat and the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts – said she isn't surprised by the popularity of her proposal.

“It’s not surprising to me at all. Washington has been working so long for the billionaire class that people around here cannot imagine crossing them,” Warren said. “It never even becomes a topic of conversation. The ultra-millionaires have gotten so much from this country that it’s not unreasonable to ask them to give back a little bit.”

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