Rep. Paul Ryan got booed at a town meeting in Milton, WI when he defended tax cuts for the wealthy. Is this what other GOPers may face? First the video…then the answer.
So here is the video:
And is it possible likely that other GOPers will face the same fate if they come out in favor of brutally slicing programs including entitlements while proclaiming that the rich need to keep their tax breaks? Y-e-s if you look at the latest McClatchy-Marist poll:
When it comes to confronting budget deficits, Americans are much more in favor of raising taxes on the wealthiest than cutting Medicare or Medicaid, a new poll found.
The McClatchy-Marist poll, conducted as Democrats and Republicans were touting their own long-term budget visions, also found the country largely pessimistic about America’s direction.
On taxes, the poll reported that roughly two out of three registered voters — 64 percent — would be in favor of increasing taxes on annual income over $250,000. President Obama reiterated in his deficit-reduction speech last week that he favored allowing taxes to rise on families in that income level.
Independents favored that plan of action at roughly the same percentage as the country at large, with more than eight in 10 Democrats also behind the idea. A majority of Republicans, 54 percent, opposed it.
So just as Barack Obama faces pitfalls in dealing with independent voters, GOPers could find that in championing tax cuts for the rich their only supporters will be some other Republicans and…the rich. MORE:
The poll was conducted both before and after Obama’s Wednesday speech, with support for higher taxes on wealthier Americans picking up afterward.
Meanwhile, fully four in five registered voters oppose cutting Medicare and Medicaid. The House GOP’s fiscal 2012 budget, largely crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), makes fundamental long-term changes to both health entitlement programs, converting Medicaid into a block grant and turning Medicare into a type of voucher system.
Democrats (92 percent), Republicans (73 percent) and independents (75 percent) all opposed cuts to the two programs, the McClatchy-Marist poll found.
In other words: not even most REPUBLICANS want to see Medicare touched. Taken together it means challenging times for Republicans who champion the Ryan plan.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.