Even Rove's financial backers want

tax hikes on rich



June 9 Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 61 percent of people believe higher taxes will be necessary to reduce the deficit. A June 7 Pew poll found strong support for tax increases to reduce the deficit; 67 percent of people favor raising the wage cap for Social Security taxes, 66 percent raising income tax rates on those making more than $250,000, and 62 percent favor limiting tax deductions for large corporations. A plurality of people would also limit the mortgage interest deduction. A May 26 Lake Research poll of Colorado voters found that they support higher taxes on the rich to shore-up Social Security’s finances by a 44 percent to 25 percent margin. A May 13 Bloomberg poll found that only one third of people believe it is possible to substantially reduce the budget deficit without higher taxes; two thirds do not. A May 12 Ipsos/Reuters poll found that three-fifths of people would support higher taxes to reduce the deficit. A May 4 Quinnipiac poll found that people favor raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 to reduce the deficit by a 69 percent to 28 percent margin.

Bruce Bartlett, columnist for The Fiscal Times and former staff to Presidents Reagan and GHW Bush, does a tremendous service by compiling all the recent polls proving support in the electorate for raising taxes . There are 19 of them since the beginning of the year. Here's just a snippet from the last few months, as the debt ceiling and budget debates have heated up:

There were eight of them in April alone, from Gallup (76% say higher taxes); USC/Los Angeles Times (California voters favor raising taxes by a 2-1 margin); New York Times/CBS News (72% say raise taxes on the rich); Washington Post/ABC News (72% again say raise taxes on the rich); and etc.

This is where the American people are and have been for quite some time. That's critical for Dems, and particularly for President Obama not just to understand, but to internalize as the debt ceiling negotiations drag out. The American people have his back, but he cannot reward what Krugman is calling extortion by the Republicans. Tax increases on the wealthy and on corporations aren't just acceptable to the American public, they're downright popular! Work with that, Mr. President, and take it beyond corporate jet owners.