More Progressive Populism, Please

Back at MyDD I wrote a number of times on what I called "progressive populism" (see, for example, here, here and here) -- basically the idea that the Democrats would be well served to embrace the populist sentiments in the country, but direct them towards progressive ends, such as bringing more equality to the tax system. I even broached the topic in a meeting at the West Wing of the White House earlier this year.

In short, Americans are unhappy with elites. But while they may direct this ire towards political elites -- particularly Democrats now in office -- these sentiments also manifest themselves in a desire to make the tax system more equitable. Voters in Oregon, for instance, who had not approved a tax increase in nearly 80 years, went to the polls and overwhelmingly approved tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations. And these sentiments don't appear limited to the upper left coast. Take a look at the latest polling from CBS News, which I have included in full below the fold:

The tax cuts passed in 2001 are set to expire this year for households earning about $250,000 a year or more. This would increase federal income taxes for those people. Should those tax cuts be made permanent or should they be allowed to expire?

Made permanent: 36 percent
Allowed to expire: 56 percent

What is remarkable about these numbers are not just the fact that Americans back raising taxes on the wealthy by a 20-point margin, but rather what the internals say. A strong majority of Democrats back the hike (69 percent to 23 percent), but Independents also back the move by a significant margin (51 percent to 40 percent). Indeed, even a strong plurality of Republicans favor ending the Bush tax cuts for households earning over $250,000 (48 percent to 46 percent). That's right: not only do Democrats and Independents favor increasing tax rates for high income earners, so do a plurality of Republicans.

This is an issue with which Democrats can box in Republicans. The GOP will be in a difficult situation if it is forced to explain why it is advocating for a major increase in the deficit to pay for lower taxes for the wealthy, likewise would it be in a dangerous position were it to oppose an otherwise across-the-board extension of the 2001 tax cuts that did not include lowered rates for the rich. Whether Democrats use this issue for full effect remains to be seen, however.





CBSNewsPoll Obama 082610