From the office of obvious facts: Large Majorities Back Raising Taxes on Wealthy, Oppose changing Medicare
Only in the US Congress is the notion of raising taxes on the wealthy controversial. And similarly, only in Congress is the idea of raising the Medicare age looked at as a good idea.
The proposal to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 annually — one of President Obama’s central campaign pitches — continues to be popular among a large majority of Americans, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll out Wednesday.
Sixty percent of those surveyed support the proposal, compared with just 37 percent who are opposed. The debate over raising taxes on the high-income earners was one of the defining issues of the 2012 campaign, although polls have consistently shown broad support for the proposal backed by Obama and the Democrats.
Meanwhile, an even larger portion of Americans — 67 percent — are opposed to raising the age for Medicare coverage from 65 to 67. via TPM
Well, no shit? Really? President Obama only campaigned AND WON twice on a platform of raising taxes on the wealthy.
Congress and Obama have acted against the polls before. The public option was favored by similar margins, and the 2010 middle-class-only tax cuts were favored by the polls (but not by as much).
In both cases, Obama allowed the legislation to hang around until Republicans turned it into a piñata and polling began to drop. It didn’t help that Obama didn’t actively support the popular measures, failing to advocate for them or to disclose his own flipflop until days before the actual vote.
Now everybody tell me why this time is different. I’m hopeful but skeptical.