Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular

May I Sell Out, Please?
Here's a shocker: Fearless progressive blogger Kevin Drum can't buy into Barack Obama's tax sell-out fast enough. Why? Well, because it's popular: Support for the overall package was extremely high: 68% among Democrats and Independents and 75% among Republicans. But the breakdown in the chart above ought to give all of us lefties pause. It's great to see that extending Unemployment Benefits polled higher than any other element of the plan, but not so great that Bonus ta...

Most Americans Support Tax Deal, New Polls Say
As Congress nears a vote on the Tax Cut deal reached between President Obama and Republicans, two new polls out today find Americans broadly supportive of the plan, including majorities of Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans in an ABC News/Washington Post poll said they support the package, which the poll noted would include extending the Bush-era tax cuts and Unemployment Benefits, cutting Social Security Payroll taxes by 2 percentage points and increasing t...

Poll: Strong support for unemployment extension
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll found strong public support for most of the elements of President Obama’s Compromise deal with Republicans that would extend the Bush Tax Cuts and federal Unemployment Benefits — particularly the Unemployment extension, which was favored by more than 2/1 margin. Nearly 70 percent of those asked in a recent poll back a Bipartisan tax Compromise that is set for its first vote Monday afternoon on the Senate floor. Of the four major elements in the pa...

Pew, Washington Post-ABC polls: Americans back tax-cut package
As the Senate gears up for a key vote on the package to extend Tax Cuts, polls released Monday showed that the American People, regardless of political party or persuasion, strongly favored the agreement hammered out by the Obama Administration and Republicans. According to the latest poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 60% of those questioned said they favored the agreement, which has been attacked by House Liberals and Senate Conservatives. About 22% said they disa...

Raiding Social Security?
The plan to cut the Payroll Tax -- which finances Social Security -- hasn't drawn the volume of opposition that it might under, say, a Republican President, with AARP blessing it on the grounds that the Treasury has said it'll make the money up from general Tax Revenues. Bernie Sanders, though, railed against the suggestion of replacing the dedicated tax with the general fund as the first step toward destroying Social Security during his long Friday Speech in the Senate, and Josh Gerstein not...

Poll: Broad bipartisan backing for tax package
WASHINGTON — About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The high Bipartisan support for the package masks more tepid public approval for some of the main components of the deal that came before a key Senate vote Monday afternoon. A slender 11 percent of those polled back all four of the deal's primary tax provisions: an across-the-board extension of Bush-era ta...

Poll finds broad bipartisan support for tax package
About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. This Story Tax deal angers right as well as left Poll finds broad Bipartisan support for tax package Washington Post-ABC News poll data In political gamble, Reid seeks votes that are sure to fail Senate having trouble 'doing business in the modern era' View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story The high bipar...

Poll Watch: Washington Post/ABC News Survey on Negotiated Tax Deal
Washington Post/ABC News Survey on Negotiated Tax Deal For each item I name, please tell me if it’s something you support strongly, support somewhat, oppose somewhat or oppose strongly. Extending the Bush-era Tax Cuts for all Taxpayers, including wealthy people as well as the Middle Class Strongly support 30% Somewhat support 24% Somewhat oppose 16% Strongly oppose 27% Funding an additional 13 months of Unemployment Benefits for people who are out of work Strongly support 49% Some...

America Backs Tax Package, Though the Stuff Inside It, Not So Much
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, a whopping 69 percent of Americans approve of the tax-cut deal hashed out between President Obama and GOP leaders. But only 11 percent approve of all four of its main components (extending all Bush Tax Cuts, extending Unemployment Insurance, lowering Payroll taxes, and a 35 percent inheritance tax for estates $5 million and up), and only 38 percent approved of even two of them. In other words, America, like Pres...

Unemployment extension highly popular, poll finds
Although progressive Activists and Democratic members of the U.S. House hate the Obama-Republican deal on taxes and Unemployment extension, the American People like it, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. They especially like the Unemployment extension, which will see Insurance benefits extended for a year as The Economy steadily recovers but adds few jobs. Respondents to the poll favored the Unemployment extension by more than a two to one margin. Nearly 70 percent of those asked in a...

Deficit Fraud Romney: Jobless Benefits Are Too Expensive, But The Bush Tax Cuts Increase Revenue
Yesterday, the Senate approved the tax deal that President Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans by an 83-15 vote. The Legislation now moves to the House, where Democrats are saying that they might tinker with the Estate Tax cut that Republicans are insisting upon. But it isn’t only on the left that opposition to the deal exists. A few House Republicans have disparaged the deal for including too few Tax Cuts and too much help for the jobless. In a USA Today op-ed today, former ...

Tax-cut deal clears big hurdle in Senate
In an overwhelming Bipartisan vote, the Senate on Monday cleared a path for the tax-cut deal President Obama struck with congressional Republicans last week, with even former staunch opponents of the Bush-era Tax Cuts voting for their extension. The 83-15 vote ends a Filibuster attempt by Liberal Democrats and gives a boost to the deal ahead of an expected showdown in the House this week, where Democratic leaders have said they will try to alter the $857 billion package. "This proves that both p...

Two New Polls Show Broad Public Support for Tax Cut Deal
Despite unhappiness among some on the right and left in both political parties about aspects of the deal to extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts, two new polls show there is broad Bipartisan support among the public for the agreement negotiated between President Obama and Senate Republicans. A Pew Research Center survey conducted Dec. 9-12 said 60 percent of Americans approve of the deal, which extends the tax cuts for all Americans including high-income earners as well as extending Unemployment benefit...

Payroll tax cut worries Social Security advocates (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to cut Payroll taxes for a year would provide big savings for many workers, but makes Social Security advocates nervous that it could jeopardize the Retirement program's finances. The plan is part of a package of Tax Cuts and extended Unemployment Benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax ...

Harkin, Dean raise doubts on Social Security tax holiday; AARP silent
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) are both raising doubts about an aspect of President Barack Obama's tax-cut deal that has not received much criticism: a one-year, two-percentage point cut in employees' share of the Social Security Payroll Tax. By contrast, a group which usually mounts staunch opposition to changes in the Social Security funding mechanism, the AARP, has remained silent about the proposed Payroll tax holiday. "That’s another thing that I rea...

Obama tax deal gets nod from Senate. Will House risk making changes?
Senators vote to end debate on GOP-Obama tax deal, clearing the way for its passage. Attention now shifts to the House, where Liberal Democrats are expected to discuss revisions. President Barack Obama speaks at the White House on Monday, in Washington. The Obama tax deal has been approved by the Senate, but Liberal Democrats in the House have to decide if they want to revise the bill. In a break with gridlock, the Senate voted 83 to 15 Monday to move ahead with a Bipartisan deal ­- f...

New Mexico senators split as tax-cut deal passes Senate test
The Tax Cut deal which includes extending tax cuts for Americans making more than $250,000 a year is still going on right now due to inclement weather across the country but it already has more than enough votes to pass. The deal passed the Senate 83-15. Among those who voted against invoking Cloture, or ending debate and allowing a final up-and-down vote on the bill, is New Mexico’s senior senator, Jeff Bingaman. Sen. Tom Udall voted to invoke cloture on the deal made between the White Ho...

Tax deal clears key hurdle - next up is Senate vote
Final Senate approval could come as early as Tuesday on the hotly contested tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders. The deal cleared a key procedural hurdle Monday, with an 83-15 vote to end Senate debate on the measure, which includes a two-year extension of the Bush-era Tax Cuts set to expire December 31. The plan would also extend Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, cut the Payroll Tax by 2 percentage points for a year and continue a series of other Tax Breaks....

Tributes to Holbrooke, Assange in court, possible tax deal vote in Senate
Reaction to diplomat's death - Richard Holbrooke, 69, who spearheaded the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Bosnian war, died three days after surgery to repair a torn aorta. We take a look at reaction from those who knew Holbrooke (pictured above), his legacy overseas, the view that he was an archetype of U.S. Diplomacy and specifically his legacy in Bosnia. Assange in court - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will reapply for bail at a court hearing Tuesd...

Romney opposes tax deal, with care
Mitt Romney, in an op-ed whose delay -- the tax deal has been out for a few days now -- reflects the exquisite care he's taken with his position, opposes it: The deal has several key features. It reduces Payroll taxes, extends Unemployment Benefits and keeps current Tax Rates intact. So far, so good. But intermixed with the benefits are considerable costs of consequence. Given the unambiguous...

Tax deal clears key Senate hurdle
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The hotly contested tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders cleared a key Senate procedural hurdle Monday, with both parties strongly supporting a motion to end debate on the measure. Final Senate approval could come as early as Tuesday on the package that includes extending for two years the Bush-era Tax Cuts set to expire December 31, as well as extending Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, cutting the Payroll Tax by 2 percentage points for a ye...

Obama-Republican Deal Could Mean Tax Hike For One In Three Workers
WASHINGTON - The tax deal reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans could mean a higher tax bill for roughly one in three workers as a result of the Social Security Tax Cut Republicans pushed as a replacement for the current Making Work Pay Tax Credit. The Making Work Pay credit gives workers up to $400, paid out at 8 percent of income, meaning that anybody making at least $5,000 gets the full amount -- and gets as much as anybody else. Its replacement knocks two percentag...

Obama Tax Cut Deal More Expensive Than Stimulus: CBO
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is predicting congressional approval of the tax-cutting Compromise he has reached with Republican leaders, but he's not ruling out that unhappy Democrats will make some changes in the mammoth Legislation. In an interview with NPR released Friday, Obama said that despite a rebellion by many Democrats against his tax deal, it will pass because "nobody – Democrat or Republican – wants to see people's paychecks smaller on Jan. 1 because Congres...

Senate votes to move tax cut deal forward, House vote looms
Today the Senate voted to pass on the Tax Cut deal made by President Obama and Republicans.  The vote was merely a procedural motion in order to move forward to final vote on the bill.  Still, the final vote is likely to look much like the vote on this procedural matter, as Senators often vote the same way on procedural motions as they do on their final votes.  The vote is also important as the tax deal would have died had it not passed.  Tomorrow the final vote in the Senate...

House Democrats Balk Over Estate Tax as Senate Moves to Approve Tax Deal
A majority of House Democrats will likely oppose the Senate Compromise on a tax bill expected to go to the House later this week, but Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Monday he thinks it will ultimately pass. In a Speech to the National Press Club, the Maryland Democrat said the Senate Legislation may have to be upended when it reaches the House, particularly over the Estate Tax, which would force changes to be sent back to the Senate.  That leaves open the idea the House may start another ...