Democrats and Republicans in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll agree that the Social Security payroll tax cut should be extended, though they disagree on how to pay for that extension. A majority of the public wants to see the tax cut extended: and even more Republicans do.
Workers are currently receiving a Social Security payroll tax cut that is scheduled to expire on December 31st. Congress is considering whether to extend, and possibly expand, the payroll tax cut. Would you support or oppose extending the payroll tax cut?
| Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Support extending and | 26% | 31% | 26% | 27% |
Support extending the current | 25% | 20% | 29% | 28% |
Oppose extending the | 16% | 15% | 16% | 18% |
Not sure | 33% | 34% | 28% | 27% |
Partisans take positions close to their party’s leaders when it comes to financing the extension. Two out of three of those who want the extension would raise taxes on those with incomes about $1 million, but while nearly all Democrats support this, just 37% of Republicans do. About seven in ten Republicans would cut government jobs and add a 2-year extension of a government worker pay freeze; far fewer Democrats would.
Members of Congress have proposed various ways of paying for the payroll tax cut. Would you support or oppose the following measures? (Asked if respondent supports extending payroll tax cut)
| Percent supporting each measure | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Raising taxes on those with | 67% | 90% | 37% |
Reducing the size of the | 48% | 24% | 70% |
Extending the current two-year | 50% | 33% | 68% |
In principle, just over a quarter of Republicans who support the payroll tax extension would consider raising revenues to finance that. About half of Democrats say the cuts should be funded by a combination that includes some budget cuts, though not necessarily the cuts affecting government workers.
Photo source: Press Association
