The majority of Americans say most members of Congress don’t pay all the taxes they owe. In fact, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% are confident that their elected representatives do pay the taxes they levy on others.

While the Obama administration struggles over Cabinet nominees who “forgot” to pay taxes, 55% of American adults say that behavior is typical for most members of Congress.

The perception is bipartisan in nature, with most Republicans, Democrats and others doubting that the legislators are paying up.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of the nation’s adults say there is double standard with one set of rules for well-connected people and another set of rules for everybody else. This skepticism has increased by six points since mid-January. At that time, tax troubles were surrounding Tim Geithner, who has since been confirmed as Treasury Secretary.

This week, former Senator Tom Daschle, President Obama’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew his nomination following disclosures that he failed to pay more than $120,00 in taxes. But the Senate was reportedly prepared to approve his nomination anyway.

In the Federalist Papers, written to promote passage of the U.S. Constitution, it was argued that the best way to control a member of Congress was to insure that he had to eventually come back and live under the laws imposed on the rest of us. That mechanism appears to have broken down in an era where incumbents hardly ever go home.

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Although Obama continues to enjoy high ratings in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index, Americans have mixed feelings about the ethics of his political appointees. Twenty-six percent (26%) say they are more ethical than officials in previous administrations, while 25% believe they are less ethical. Thirty-eight percent (38%) rate their ethics about the same as previous presidential appointees.

Here, partisan differences are clearer. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats say Obama’s appointees are more ethical that those in earlier presidencies, while 53% of Republicans say they are less ethical. Those unaffiliated with either party are evenly divided on the question.

In late January, 43% of voters said Obama was more ethical than most politicians, and only 16% thought he was less ethical. Thirty-one percent (31%) said he was about as ethical as his political peers.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Americans think the news media is holding Obama’s nominees to a higher standard than those chosen by President Bush, compared to 26% who say the standard is lower. For 30%, the media’s standard is about the same, and six percent (6%) are not sure.

Again, the partisan split tilts the numbers. Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats say the media holds Obama’s nominees to a higher standard than Bush’s. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Republicans say the bar is lower. Unaffiliated Americans are closely divided.

Surveys during the campaign season and just after the election consistently found that voters believed the media tilted its coverage in favor of Obama.
Voters overwhelming believe that members of Congress are more interested in their own career than in helping people. Roughly a third believe that most members of Congress are corrupt. They believe lobbyists will have more influence on the Congressional stimulus bill than either taxpayers or the president.

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