ABCNEWS.com : ABCNEWS.com Poll Finds Little Support for Tax Cuts

★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll990728.html

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Retirement Trumps Tax Cuts
	Poll Gauges Priorities for Surplus Spending Nearly eight in 10 Americans say they prefer spending the federal surplus on what they consider important issues rather than receive a tax cut. (ABCNEWS.com)

By Gary Langer
ABCNEWS.com
July 28 — The Republicans in Congress may have 792 billion reasons for a tax cut, but their offer hasn’t budged public opinion: Nearly eight in 10 Americans still have higher priorities for spending the federal surplus.
     Given four options — cut income taxes, reduce the national debt, strengthen Social Security or fund other domestic programs — just 22 percent pick a tax cut, about the same as it was four months ago. More than twice as many give Social Security top priority.
     These numbers held steady despite the $792 billion, 10-year tax cut package passed by the House last week over Bill Clinton’s threatened veto. The Senate takes it up this week.

Preference for spending the federal surplus:
	Cut income taxes	Reduce national debt	Social Security	Domestic programs
7/25/99	22	19	47	10
3/14/99	20	21	47	10

This doesn’t mean people don’t want a tax cut; just that most don’t give it an especially high priority, given other needs. It’s consistent with polling over the years, in which cutting taxes long has taken a back seat to fighting deficits or funding specific, popular programs.
Last spring, for example, cutting taxes finished eighth in a list of 16 issues, behind items such as managing the federal budget, improving education, protecting patients’ rights and handling crime. And in 1996, when candidate Bob Dole called for a 15 percent tax cut, most people said it was more important to balance the budget.

Partisan
Republicans are nearly twice as likely as Democrats or independents to give a tax cut their top priority. But even among Republicans, fewer than a third place cutting taxes first, and more favor strengthening Social Security.

Priority:

Cut Taxes Social Security

All 22% 47%

Rep. 31% 41%

Ind. 16% 45%

Dem. 17% 53%

There also are divisions among income and age groups: Better-off people, and those in their prime earning years, are more likely to give their priority to a tax cut (presumably they’re also more likely to benefit from one). Less well-off people, and those in their retirement years, are the least likely to favor a tax cut first.

Priority: Cut taxes

- - - - - - - - Income - - - - - - - -

All     <$25K $25-75K <$75K

22%     17% 23% 30%

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Age - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

All     18-34 35-49 50-64 65+

22%     19% 25% 30% 10%

Sexes
While funding Social Security is the top choice across the board, it’s somewhat more popular among women (51 percent) than men (43 percent). Men, meanwhile, are more interested than women in paying down the debt, by 24 percent to 14 percent.
While there’s been no movement since spring, there has been a slight increase in interest in a tax cut since January 1998 - from 16 percent then to 22 percent now. In that same time, there’s been a 10-point drop in the number who give top priority to debt reduction.

Gary Langer is director of the ABCNEWS Polling Unit.

S U M M A R Y

You wouldn’t know it from watching Congress, but the public would rather fix Social Security than cut taxes.

Related Stories
Tax Relief Debate Moves to Senate

A R C H I V E

Read past polls

Field work for this ABCNEWS.com poll was done by ICR/International Communications Research, Media, Pa.