BOSTON, Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — A new national survey released today shows that 43% of Americans believe that a combination of spending cuts and tax increases are needed to solve the looming fiscal cliff. Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe cutting spending alone is the best way to handle the deficit; only 8% think tax increases are the solution, according to the Emerson College Polling Society (ECPS). There was a 3 percent margin of error in the survey.
Grey VanDeMark, President of ECPS states, "Our data suggests that Americans want a compromise between tax increases and spending cuts: a solution of every five dollars in spending cuts, for every one dollar in tax increases is a popular compromise for the country to avoid going over the fiscal cliff."
Jordan Del Guercio, Director of Communications, adds that raising revenues without spending cuts does not have wide support: "Only 8% of Americans think raising taxes is the sole solution, and 55% of Americans say they will change their spending habits if tax increases are a result of a deal."
The poll also showed that people's opinions about Grover Norquist, the president of Americans For Tax Reform, are generally negative, with 35% having an unfavorable opinion and only 20% having a favorable impression. Felix Chen, international student from China and the Chief Analyst for ECPS concludes the data suggests that Norquist's warning "the GOP to keep their 'fingerprints' off tax-increase deal" has hurt his image, as it runs counter to the plurality of Americans who want a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
Norquist's famous "no-tax pledge" has drawn the ire of Democrats who identify the activists as the source of Republicans unwillingness to meet Democrats halfway in previous fiscal negotiations. The American people concur. Only 25% advocate sticking to the no tax pledge, while 62% favor raising taxes on the wealthy.
Furthermore, the data, according to Chen, suggests only 42% of Republicans believe the GOP should stick to the anti-tax pledge; 35% would allow tax increases on the wealthy, and 23% are unsure on the tax increase issue. In addition, 66% of Independents and 83% of Democrats think that tax increases on the wealthy should be on the table during the fiscal negotiations.
Data was collected between November 27 and 28, 2012, using an automated data collection system. The national sample consisted of 983 people with a margin of error of +/- 3% at a 95% confidence level. The full top lines results and cross tabulations are available at the group's website www.emersoncollegepollingsociety.com.
About Emerson College Polling Society
Emerson College Polling Society is a student organization at Emerson College dedicated to formulating, administering, and analyzing public opinion polls. The results and analysis of this release are the sole views of Emerson College Polling Society and do not reflect the views of Emerson College as a whole.
MEDIA CONTACT: Grey VanDeMark, grey@emersoncollegepollingsociety.com