Taxes and the Crazification Factor

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Does the American public want to reduce the deficit entirely with spending cuts, or does it support a combination of spending cuts and tax increases? Bruce Bartlett has been collecting the results of every poll that asks this question, and the answer is clear. On average, 65% of respondents want a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes. In 27 polls going back nearly a year, there are only two where the number is less than 60%.

So that’s that. Only 30% of the country wants to reduce the deficit solely with spending cuts, a number that’s suspiciously close to the Crazification Factor. The non-crazies all want some kind of balanced approach. If Obama sticks to his guns on this, he’s on solid ground.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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