FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
More than a hundred conservatives in the House sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor Monday setting strict guidelines that need to be met in order to get their vote to support an increase to the debt ceiling. These lawmakers are concerned Boehner and Cantor will not push hard enough for spending cuts when they meet with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/06/art.cantor.boehner.jpg caption="(L to R) House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)."]
Specifically, they're asking for discretionary and mandatory spending cuts that would cut the deficit in half next year. Good luck.
For all the tough talk coming from Republican lawmakers about cutting spending and reducing the deficit, they refuse to give in on one issue - raising taxes, mostly on the rich. Such a move would of course raise revenue at a time when we're facing a $14.3 trillion national debt, but it would also anger wealthy Republican donors. Can't have that.
According to a new Gallup Poll, Americans are split over whether to raise taxes for the rich.
Forty-seven percent of Americans believe the government should redistribute wealth in this country by raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. Forty-nine percent disagree.
When you break it down by party affiliation, the percentage of Democrats who are for raising taxes on the wealthy is just about equal to the percentage of Republicans against raising taxes.
Seventy-one percent of Democrats support redistributing wealth while 26% are against it. Just 28% of Republicans support a plan to tax more heavily the richest Americans while 69% do not.
When it comes to independents though, it's split. About 43% support redistributing wealth while 53% do not.
Here’s my question to you: Should American wealth be redistributed by taxing the rich?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Don:
A wealth tax is a bad idea, and will simply drive the monetary assets of the rich offshore. Increasing the tax rates for everybody and removing many deductions would help America get back on its feet. But don't forget that reducing spending is even more important.
Ray in Knoxville, Tennessee:
Redistributing the wealth, Jack? Is that what you're calling it now? To answer your question, I do support raising taxes on the rich and undoing the past 30 years of the Republican assault on America.
H.J. in St. Paul, Minnesota:
Of course, it should. But let’s be clear, no one is saying we should redistribute it all. Just enough to recover common sense. They'll still be wealthy. It’s simply not feasible to have an economy grow when you lower the relative value of the average person.
Dave in Seattle, Washington:
Since two-thirds of government spending goes towards defense spending, you should reword your question. I bet the answers would be different if you asked "Should we increase taxes on the rich to help pay for the war in Afghanistan?"
Ray in Georgia:
How do most people get rich? By working hard and applying themselves. Seems like a good formula to me. So-called Rich people provide jobs for those that want to work and better themselves. So in a sense the wealth is being re distributed. I would disagree with government taking more money in Taxes and handing it out in benefits that are not earned.
Curtis in Philadelphia, Pa.:
Yes. Sorry if that's too wordy.
Carol in Northampton, Massachusetts:
Does anybody care? Weiner's picture seems to be more important than the economy. But, to answer your question, the whole tax code needs to be revamped and simplified so that revenues can be fairly maximized.
Cliff in Rego Park, New York:
American wealth has been re-distributed over the past 30 years, which has resulted in the decimation of the middle class. Before you posed the question, you should have asked yourself how many successful one wage earner blue collar families do you know?