Obama Has Convinced Nearly Half of Republicans to Raise Taxes on the Wealthy

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Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 11:51 am

President Obama has so convincingly won the message war on taxes that according to new Bloomberg poll, nearly half of Republicans support raising taxes on the wealthy.

The Bloomberg poll found that Obama’s job approval rating (53%) is now at its highest level since December 2009. Two to one majorities support the president’s position on protecting Medicare and Social Security. This result pretty much obliterates the Republican talking point that the Romney/Ryan campaign gave Republicans some sort of victory on entitlements.

The biggest surprise in this poll was that despite two years of endless campaigning for not raising taxes on the wealthy, nearly half of Republicans support the president’s position that taxes need to be raised on the wealthy.

President Obama has been delivering the simple, clear, and consistent message that the top earners are paying too little in taxes. Mitt Romney tried to campaign on protecting the “job creators,” and was routed. John Boehner did more damage to his own party yesterday by again refusing to raise taxes on the rich.

Obama has so thoroughly won the message war on taxes that if this fiscal cliff dispute lingers for a few more weeks, he might even have a majority of Republicans on his side.

The Bloomberg poll raises the question exactly who are the congressional Republicans representing with their position on taxes? They aren’t representing the majority of the American people. They aren’t representing small business owners as they like to claim. It seems that the only people they are representing are conservative millionaires and billionaires and right wing tax zealots like Grover Norquist.

For decades, Democrats have treated taxes like a Republican issue that they should never discuss.

President Obama has done something really phenomenal. He has not only beaten Republicans on their own issue, but he has made taxes a Democratic issue.

When Obama gets his tax increase on the rich, it will be another in a string of political victories for a president that is dealing with the most dysfunctional congress ever.

President Obama is accomplishing something pretty incredible that if not appreciated in the present, will be admired in the future.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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