Progressive Tax Reform: Voters Still Want Wealthy to Pay Fair Share

1. HART RESEARCH A S S O C I A T E S Progressive Tax Reform: Still A Winning Budget Message Key findings from a nationwide survey among 1,006 votersconducted January 18 – 22, 2013 for

2. Should pay MORE in taxes Should pay LESS in taxes Pay the right amount in taxes Voters Still Want Top 2% To Pay More Taxes April 201270%18%6% 66%18%6% 7%55%34% The richest 2% Large corporations The middle class

3. Pro-Tax Candidate Beats No-New-Taxes Candidate Which candidate would you be more likely to support on taxes? Raise taxes on wealthy/corporations 83% 47% 30% 60% 50% 61% Results were identical in April 2012: 56% to 33%. No tax increase 11% 34% 58% 30% 38% 29% Democrats Independents Republicans Obama states Romney states 2014 Senate target states Candidate who favors raising taxes on wealthy and large corporations Candidate who opposes any increase in taxes All voters

4. Voters: After Fiscal Cliff, We Still Need To Do More To Make Sure Wealthy Pay Fair Share On January 1, Congress passed a bill to address the “fiscal cliff.” With which statement about the fiscal cliff and taxes do you agree more? All voters Still need to do more so wealthy pay fair share 82% 55% 34% 60% 56% 64% Bill raised taxes on rich enough 11% 25% 50% 27% 30% 25% The fiscal cliff bill raised taxes on the rich enough, and now the wealthy should not have to pay any more in taxes Democrats Independents Republicans Obama states Romney states 2014 Senate target states Candidate who opposes any increase in taxes We still need to do more to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes

5. Prefer a bill that only cuts spending with no increase in taxes +16 Prefer a bill that increases tax revenue from wealthy and corporations and cuts spending Voters Reject A Cuts-Only Approach In Favor Of Plan That Raises Revenue From Wealthy & Corporations Which approach do you prefer for dealing with the deficit?

6. Prefer a bill that only cuts spending with no increase in taxes Prefer a bill that increases tax revenue from wealthy and corporations and does not cut spending -12 But Voters Want Mix Of Revenue And Spending Cuts, Not A Revenue-Only Package Which approach do you prefer for dealing with the deficit? Voters worry about Democrats not getting spending under control (43%) as much as GOP cutting important programs too much (39%).

7. Use Tax Reform Revenue For Public Investment And Deficit Reduction, Not Rate Cuts Congress is considering legislation to reform the tax system by closing loopholes and limiting deductions for wealthy individuals. How should tax revenue raised from these reforms be used? Reduce deficit; publicinvestment 69% 66% 62% 68% 63% 63% All voters Reduce tax rate 21% 21% 27% 24% 23% 22% Reduce the budget deficit and make public investments Democrats Independents Republicans Obama states Romney states 2014 Senate target states Reduce tax rates

8. Public’s Priorities on Taxes This should be a very important goal* for the new budget bill: Ensure big corporations pay fair share of taxes Close tax loopholes that benefit big corporations Ensure rich pay their fair share of taxes Reduce tax rates on all taxpayers Reduce tax rateson corporations * 9-10 ratings on zero-to-ten scale, 10 = extremely important goal

9. Next Budget Agreement Should Include Revenue From Wealthy And Corporations On the next budget agreement, do you agree more with Democrats or with Republicans? All voters Agree with Democrats 88% 54% 21% 60% 49% 57% Agree with Republicans 10% 37% 76% 36% 45% 40% DEMOCRATS: budget should include new tax revenue from limiting tax breaks for wealthy and corporations, in addition to spending cuts Democrats Independents Republicans Obama states Romney states 2014 Senate target states Agree much more 35% 57% REPUBLICANS: budget should include only spending cuts, with no increase in taxes on anyone Agree much more 23% 39%

10. Democrats Win Debate Over Need For Revenue In Next Agreement Concerning budget and taxes, with which statement do you agree more? REPUBLICANS: “Congress just passed a huge tax increase, and already President Obama is demanding more tax increases. But further tax hikes will kill jobs, hurt our economy, and endanger our children's future. Now we need to cut spending on the wasteful government programs that are the real source of our deficit. We don't have a deficit problem because we tax too little, we have it because we spend too much." Agree strongly 29% 37% DEMOCRATS: “It's wrong to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class by relying only on cuts to vital programs such as Medicaid and education. Instead of taking away families' health care, we should limit tax deductions for the richest two percent. Instead of cutting funding for schools, let's end tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas. If we ask the rich and large corporations to pay their fair share, we can be fiscally responsible and protect the middle class." Agree strongly 44% 55%

11. Strongly approve Somewhat approve Support For Tax Revenue from Wealthy Eliminate loophole that allows hedge fund mgrs to pay lower tax rate than middle class Place 5% surtax on income over $1 million per year Eliminate loophole that allows wealthy to avoid paying capital gains tax on inherited stocks/bonds Limit deductions for people making over $250,000/year Over $250K income: end lower tax rate on income from selling stocks/assets Over $250K income: end lower tax rate on dividend income from stocks 75% 73% favor (49% strongly) surtax on $10 million/more 67% 60% 55% 52% 48%

12. Strongly approve Somewhat approve Strong Support For Progressive CorporateTax Reform Policies Increase tax on U.S. corp-orations’ overseas profits to ensure it is as much as tax on their U.S. profits Ensure all corporations pay at least 25% on profits earned overseas Close loopholes allowing corporations/wealthy to avoid U.S. taxes by shifting income overseas Prevent corporations from avoiding taxes when they award execs millions in stock options Establish small tax on all stock/bond/market trades (e.g., $3 on every $10K) Eliminate tax breaksfor oil companies 83% 77% 73% 63% 62% 59%

13. Strongly approve Strongly disapprove Somewhat approve Somewhat disapprove Strong Opposition To Specific Spending Cuts Cut spending on K-12 public education Cut Medicaid health program Reduce annual cost of living increase for Social Security benefits Raise age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 13% 83% 17% 80% 29% 65% 39% 58%

14. Democrats Have Winning Message On Limiting Tax Breaks For Wealthy Individuals Concerning taxes, with which statement do you agree more? DEMOCRATS: “Limiting the tax breaks that wealthy people get will make the tax system more fair. It's not right that the wealthy receive a larger tax break than middle-class families when they have a home mortgage, contribute to a 401k, or pay property taxes." Agree strongly 39% 54% +12 Democrats REPUBLICANS: "President Obama and the Democrats just raised taxes on small businesses and many families across America. Raising taxes again will not solve Washington's spending problem, it will only hurt our economy and destroy jobs." Agree strongly 31% 42%

15. Corporate Tax Reform

16. Not sure Tax rates on corporations should be lower Tax rates on corporations should be higher Higher67%42%29% 50%44%47% Lower6%19%27% 16%18%18% 75% HIGHER/SAME DemocratsIndependentsRepublicans Obama statesRomney states2014 Sen. targets Tax rates on corporations should be kept at the current level Little Support For Lowering Tax Rates On Corporations

17. Strong Opposition To Ending Taxation On Foreign Profits Of U.S. Corporations (Territorial Tax System) Do you approve or disapprove of allowing corporations to not pay any U.S. taxes on profits that they earn in foreign countries? 73% Strongly disapprove 57% Strongly Agree 40% 20% Strongly approve 11% Approve Disapprove

18. Use Corporate Tax Reform Revenue For Public Investment And Deficit Reduction, Not Rate Cuts For which one of these should tax revenue from closing corporate loopholes and limiting deductions be used? All voters Reduce deficit/ make public investments 84% 87% 79% 85% 80% 85% Reduce rates on corporations 11% 10% 13% 10% 13% 8% Reduce the budget deficit and make public investments Democrats Independents Republicans Obama states Romney states 2014 Senate target states Reduce tax rates oncorporations

19. Raising Revenue From Corporations Is Winning Message For Democrats Concerning corporate tax rates, with which statement do you agree more? REPUBLICANS: “America has the highest income tax rates on businesses in the world. We need tax reform that broadens the base by eliminating loopholes, which will allow us to reduce corporate tax rates. This kind of pro-growth tax reform will make the system simpler, more fair, grow our economy, and raise more revenue." Agree strongly 23% 37% +21 Democrats DEMOCRATS: “Big corporations use their lobbyists and campaign contributions to rig the tax system in their favor. Profitable oil companies get billions in special tax breaks while large companies like General Electric and Verizon pay no federal income taxes some years. It's about time big corporations started living by the same rules as the rest of us." Agree strongly 44% 58%

20. HART RESEARCH A S S O C I A T E S Progressive Tax Reform: Still A Winning Budget Message Key findings from a nationwide survey among 1,006 votersconducted January 18 – 22, 2013 for