CBS Poll: 51 Percent Say ‘Buffett Rule’ Will Have No Effect On Hiring

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Further evidence that the percentage of those Americans unwilling to tax millionaires is much higher within the House GOP conference than the country as a whole: A new CBS News poll shows that 64 percent of those polled support such an increase, versus only 30 percent against.

“Democrats were extremely likely to support such an increase (83 percent did so), and independents also supported it, 65 percent to 28 percent,” said the CBS report. “On the other side, 54 percent of Republicans opposed such an increase, while 40 percent supported it.”

The poll also skewers a key GOP talking point on the taxation issue: 51 percent of those polled said that a tax on millionaires would make no difference in job creation efforts. Republicans often argue that taxing the “job creators” (millionaires, in this case) will slow hiring. Others counter that this type of tax would affect the personal income of wealthy people, and although there are many small business owners that file individually, personal taxes don’t affect corporate hiring in the same way.

The poll itself illustrates a disconnect for President Obama right now, who proposed the tax on millionaires (the so-called “Buffett Rule”). Ideas like the Buffett Rule are independently popular, but Americans are still very sour on the President’s handling of the overall economy, which is not perceived as recovering by respondents. But Obama’s overall approval rating remains higher than his marks on the economy, likely because Americans blame a host of politicians for the struggles.

From the CBS poll memo:

Still, just 12% of Americans blame the Obama administration for the current condition of the nation’s economy. More say George W. Bush’s administration (22%) is to blame, but that’s down nine points from 2010, while blame for the Obama administration has risen slightly by five points. 16% blame Wall Street and financial institutions, while 15% say Congress.

The CBS poll used 1,012 live telephone interviews with American adults conducted from Sept. 28th to Oct. 2nd. It has a sampling error of three points.

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