Why the Grand Old Party is determined to fall on the sword of tax cuts for the very rich might make an interesting subject for anthropologists engaged in the study and explanation of tribal beliefs.
A new poll out today from the Pew Research Center finds that only 29 percent of Americans favor keeping the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent. Although that's perhaps 27 percent more than one might expect, it's still not exactly the stuff majorities are made of. (Interestingly, an equal number favor repealing all the Bush tax cuts for all income brackets.)
Not even a majority of Republicans want to keep those tax cuts on the top 2 percent. Given that it would cost $700 billion over ten years to do so—and hand more than $100,000 a year apiece to everyone earning a $1,000,000 or more—it's perhaps not surprising that this is not the most popular idea abroad in a land in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Other interesting finding of the poll: while a plurality (45–38) disapprove of the new health care law, only 32 percent favor repealing it.
