PRINCETON, NJ -- Six in 10 Americans favor Congress' passing the so-called "Buffett Rule," which would mandate a minimum 30% tax rate for Americans with a household income of $1 million or more per year. Majorities of both Democrats and independents favor the policy, while a majority of Republicans oppose it.

President Barack Obama has pushed this tax policy in recent appearances, and the U.S. Senate may vote on it next week. Few observers believe it has a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House to become law before the end of the year.

The proposed legislation was informally dubbed the "Buffett Rule" after billionaire investor Warren Buffett asserted that he should not be allowed to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. Gallup's question about the proposal, included in its April 9-12 Economy and Personal Finance survey, asked if "households earning $1 million a year or more" should pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes. The actual law the Senate will vote on would include more complex "phase in" clauses for those making between $1 and $2 million per year.

Given President Obama's persistent emphasis this year on the need to increase taxes on higher-income Americans, and his adoption of a "fair share, fair shot, equal playing rules" campaign theme, it is not surprising to see that Democrats favor the Buffett Rule by almost a three-to-one ratio. More than six in 10 independents, a critically important group in an election year, favor the law. Republicans oppose the law by an 11-point margin, with 54% against and 43% in favor.

Americans in general say that the distribution of money and wealth in this country is not fair, and that money and wealth should be more evenly distributed. Plus, 59% of Americans last year agreed that households making $250,000 or more per year should pay higher taxes. The current results reinforce these findings and underscore the now well-documented conclusion that Americans in general support various proposals for increasing taxes on higher-income Americans.

Gallup's surveys do not allow the isolation of the very few respondents who might actually themselves make $1 million per year or more, but the more limited income categories that are defined show little variation in response to the Buffett Rule by income. A majority (55%) of those making $100,000 or more in annual household income favor the Buffett Rule, similar to the level of support from lower-income Americans.

Implications

Republican politicians oppose the Buffett Rule, and there is little possibility that it will become law this year. President Obama's intense focus on the policy and his emphasis on bringing it to a vote in Congress is thus mostly a symbolic gesture -- underscoring his general presidential campaign themes this year. An emphasis on millionaires paying higher taxes also helps position the Obama presidential campaign against his very rich GOP opponent, Mitt Romney.

Perhaps more importantly than the fate of this one policy proposal, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts at the end of this year means that unless something is done, taxes will go up for many American taxpayers. Obama is on record as saying he would let the tax cuts expire for those households making $250,000 a year and up, but would keep them in place for all others.

Although the public agrees with the idea of increasing taxes on the rich, this does not appear to be Americans' highest priority. Gallup's April measure of the most important problem facing the country shows that Americans cite the economy, jobs, dissatisfaction with government, and the deficit as the top problems, while very few (1%) mention the gap between the rich and the poor as the top problem. Previous Gallup research has also shown that Americans rate reducing the income and wealth gap between the rich and the poor as a lower priority than growing the economy more generally and increasing economic opportunity.