Most Voters Believe Congress Likely to Extend Bush Tax Cuts For All

Despite Democratic resistance to extending the Bush tax cuts for those who earn $200,000 or more a year, most voters are optimistic that the tax cuts will be continued for all Americans.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of Likely Voters say it’s at least somewhat likely the Bush tax cuts will be extended for all taxpayers, including 24% who say it's Very Likely. Thirty percent (30%) say it’s not likely Congress will vote to extend the tax cuts for all, but only six percent (6%) say it’s Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Republicans argue that given the state of the economy, now is not the time for tax increases on any Americans, while Democrats insist that those whom they view as wealthy should pay more. The White House and Republican leaders are reportedly working on a deal to extend the tax cuts for all Americans in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits and some increased stimulus spending.

In November, 50% of Americans preferred extending the Bush administration tax cuts for all Americans, but 44% favored their extension for everyone except the wealthy.

Many Democrats were initially opposed to any extension of the tax cuts, but most voters have consistently favored their continuation in surveys since August. Support for extending them to the wealthy has not been as strong but has been slightly ahead of support for a limited extension.  

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on December 1-2, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.