Do Fewer Americans Support Taxing the Rich?

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 10:29 AM PDT

Poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans support higher taxes on the wealthy. A number of millionaires – aka The Friends of Warren – also believe in paying more.

Yet a new Gallup poll shows that American support for higher taxes on the wealthy may actually be declining. Fully 62% of Americans say the wealthy pay too little. That's the lowest number in a decade, with the single exception of 2010, when 55% of Americans supported higher taxes on the wealthy.

If you look at the larger trend over the past decade, American support for taxing the wealthy has been declining. In 1992, 77% of respondents said the wealthy paid too little. After the Clinton tax hikes on the wealthy in 1993, support for taxing the wealthy still remained high at 68%.

At the same time, the percentage of voters who think the wealthy pay their fair share has increased – from 16% in 1992 to 25% in 2012. And the percentage of people who think the rich pay too much has held fairly steady at around 10% over the past decade – though it's lower today than the 15% reported in 2010.

This is not to obscure the overall message: a majority of Americans support taxing the wealthy. As Gallup states: “As Republicans continue to resist any plan that would raise taxes on wealthy Americans, they face not only opposition from the Democrats and Obama, but the pressure of public opinion.”

But it's worth noting that at a time of heightened coverage of the low taxes paid by some of the rich, there is no accompanying increase in public outrage over “fairness” in the tax code.

Why do you think American support for taxing the rich is declining?