Tax The Rich! Right? New Poll Uncovers Major Attitude Shift Towards Taxing The Wealthy, Social Security Spending

A poll conducted in late March shows that funding programs like Social Security and Medicare is a top priority for more Americans than it was 10 years ago.

The poll, performed by Fox News on a randomly selected nationwide sample of more than 1000 voters, asked participants which they deemed more important – reducing the federal budget deficit or continuing to fund "entitlement programs," also known as government benefits.

Other entitlement programs include Medicaid, Unemployment, and welfare programs.

Of those surveyed, 71% picked entitlement programs as the priority, while 26% chose to reduce the budget deficit. The remaining 3% refrained from responding.

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The results mark a significant shift in public opinion. In a survey performed in April 2013, the same question received just 54% support for maintaining entitlement programs and 40% of support for reducing the budget deficit.

This means that today's average voter is at least 14% more likely to support government funded social aid and healthcare than one surveyed 10 years ago.

A majority of voters also supported increasing taxation for individuals making more than $400,000 a year, with 68% supporting this proposal as a possible way of reducing the federal budget deficit.

This number, however, remains in line with opinions from a previous poll, conducted in 2012, in which 69% of participants agreed that increasing taxation on individuals making more than $250,000 a year would be a positive way of reducing the deficit.

Increasing taxes on businesses and corporations, meanwhile, received 15% more support in 2023 as compared to a 2011 poll, reaching 63% vs. 48% over a decade ago.

When it comes to cutting defense spending as a means of reducing the budget deficit, Only 37% of those surveyed in 2023 were in favor of that proposal, compared to 45% in 2011 and 2012.

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