Half of Republicans say taxes sometimes need to rise, but most still want candidates to sign no new taxes pledge
The famed anti-tax pledge of Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform has hit the news again after Jeb Bush, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination for 2016, announced that he would not be signing it. The 'Taxpayers Protection Pledge' commits candidates to never raising taxes or creating a new one. So far Jeb Bush is the only likely Republican candidate for 2016 who has not signed the pledge. In the current GOP controlled Congress, 219 representatives and 39 senators have signed the pledge, meaning just over half of the entire House of Representatives have committed to never raise taxes or create new taxes.
YouGov's latest research shows that most Americans (57%) agree that it is sometimes necessary to raise taxes, while 31% say that it never is. Democrats (64%) are somewhat more likely than Republicans (50%) to say that it is sometimes necessary to raise taxes, while Republicans (40%) are nearly twice as likely as Democrats (23%) to say that it is never necessary to raise taxes.
Despite the fact that half of Republicans say that they think taxes do sometimes need to be increased, 56% of Republicans also say that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who has signed a pledge promising no new taxes or tax increases. 29% of Republicans say that it wouldn't make a difference, while only 5% say that they are less likely to vote for a candidate resolutely opposed to higher taxes. Among Democrats only 24% would be more likely to vote for a candidate opposed to any and all tax increases, a position shared by 37% of independents.
