Poll: Plurality Of Americans Oppose Wealth Redistribution
It’s nice that the left’s war on the rich isn’t getting more traction, though I’d like to see higher numbers opposed to what amounts to tax theft. Of course, the “slight majority” among independents who oppose redistribution is actually a 10 point margin, 53/43, which is heartening.
Americans break into two roughly evenly matched camps on the question of whether the government should enact heavy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth in the U.S. Forty-seven percent believe the government should redistribute wealth in this way, while 49% disagree, similar to views Gallup found four years ago.
Republicans and Democrats have sharply different reactions to the government’s taking such an active role in equalizing economic outcomes. Seven in 10 Democrats believe the government should levy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth, while an equal proportion of Republicans believe it should not. The slight majority of independents oppose this policy.
The question also provokes different reactions from men compared with women, whites vs. nonwhites, and upper-income vs. lower-income Americans. Consistent with their more Democratic political orientation, women, nonwhites, and lower-income adults are all more supportive than their counterparts of government redistribution of wealth via taxes.
The number of people who think we have “too many rich people” dropped too, from 37% to 31%, though even that seems mystifyingly high. Don’t we want more rich people? If more of us are rich, isn’t that a good thing? Of course, envy is at the heart of the class warfare mantra. It’s not about good policy, it’s about being mad because someone else has more and using the power of law to punish those who dare be more successful than the “common man.”
Demonizing America’s most successful citizen is not only unfair, it really is bad policy. Lumping tax burdens on the richest Americans is what allows government to spiral out of control. If Americans get the idea that they can vote for bigger and bigger government paid for by other people, then there are no consequences for that growth.
Everyone should carry the burden of government. When government gets larger, everyone’s taxes should go up.
Tags: gallup, polls, wealth redistribution
