Seventy-eight percent (78%) of U.S. voters say it is at least somewhat likely that taxes will be raised on the middle class to cover the cost of health care reform. Fifty-six percent (56%) say it’s very likely.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% of voters think it’s unlikely that the cost of health care reform will require raising taxes on the middle class.

Those who earn between $20,000 and $75,000 per year believe even more strongly that health care reform will require raising taxes on the middle class.

On a related topic, voters have mixed feelings about taxing wealthier Americans to help pay for health care reform as House Democrats are now proposing. Forty-eight percent (48%) favor raising taxes on those who earn more than $250,000 per year to pay for health care reform, but 44% oppose such a move. Surveys over the years have consistently shown that when politicians talk of taxing the rich, many middle class voters assume their own taxes will go up as well.

Currently, 39% of voters expect their own taxes to increase during the Obama Administration.

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A bill now being considered in the House of Representatives places a one percent (1%) surtax on individual incomes above $280,000, which rises to 1.5 percent for those making between $400,000 and $800,000 a year. Both could double by 2013 if insufficient savings are found to cover the additional spending envisioned in the health care reform plan. On incomes above $800,000, the surtax is 5.4%.

Under the plan, taxpayers will not be able to use mortgage interest or charitable contributions to reduce their surtax liability. Eighty percent (80%) of voters say wealthy Americans are at least somewhat likely to give less money to charity if their deductions are reduced, up 14 points from April.

Just 13% believe the wealthy are not likely to cut back their charitable giving.

Earlier this year, 51% of voters said Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn more than $250,000 a year would be good for the economy. Thirty-one percent (31%) disagreed and said it would be bad for the economy.

But voters in general consistently favor tax cuts over increased government spending.
In a poll conducted before House Democrats unveiled their current version of a reform plan, 49% of voters opposed the health care reform plan being developed while 46% favored it.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans and 62% of voters not affiliated with either major party say health care reform is Very Likely that to raise middle class taxes. Only 37% of Democratic voters agree.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Democrats like the idea of taxing wealthier Americans to help fund health care reform. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters are opposed.

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