Return Of The Silent Majority

An interesting phenomenon. If you watch TV, you would think there was this vast majority of Americans who don't want any new taxes, and God forbid we tax the rich. That's class warfare. But the reality is, if you actually talk to the American people, they DO believe it's okay for rich people to pay more.

Maybe it's the MEDIA that doesn't like the idea of rich people paying more? In any case it would appear there is nothing to stop us from raising taxes on the rich on a "grassroots" political level. At least raising them back to the pre-Bush tax cut levels?

But somehow the minority view is prevailing, and maybe I'm crazy, but the minority view actually gets more play than the majority view. And the rich are not getting their taxes raised. Is it an ineffective "silent majority" that's not being heard, like Nixon once said, or is it just a very effective and noisy minority that's calling the shots here? I can't figure out what's going on, and apparently neither can these Republican presidential candidates, who are aiming their message squarely at the minority of people who believe the wealthy shouldn't pay more. Sign me, BAFFLED.

And by the way, if Nixon was running today, he would easily be the most interesting and compelling candidate going. Only Trump and Palin could have gotten this campaign on track for this blogger.

More than two-thirds of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, say wealthier people should pay more in taxes to bring down the budget deficit, and even larger numbers think Medicare and Social Security benefits should be left alone.

That sentiment on taxes is at odds with the Republican presidential candidates, who will meet tonight in a Bloomberg- Washington Post-sponsored debate focused on economic issues.

More than 8 out of 10 Americans say the middle class will have to make financial sacrifices to cut the federal deficit even as the public just as strongly opposes higher taxes on middle-income families, according to a Bloomberg-Washington Post national poll conducted Oct. 6-9.

“While Americans see sacrifice as inevitable for the middle-class, the only sacrifice to win majority support is a tax on those too wealthy to be considered middle-class,” says J. Ann Selzer, president of Des Moines, Iowa-based Selzer & Co., which consults with Bloomberg News on polls.

[Bloomberg]