MAJORITY OF AMERICANS OPPOSE BUSH TAX CUTS
April 7, 2003

Fair Taxes For All is circulating the following documents:

1. Majority of Americans Oppose Bush Tax Cuts--polling document by the National Women's Law Center--please see attached.
2. Update on the FTFA coalition's progress, including a brief on conferees--please see below.

The conferees, who have been meeting since last week to find common ground between the Senate and House versions of the budget resolution are having a hard time reaching that goal. House and Senate leadership have indicated that the conferees need to reach agreement by Wednesday in order for there to be time for both houses to act before they go out for a two-week recess on April 11th. In fact, reports from this morning were that there is now a real - although still somewhat unlikely possibility - that Congress will recess without having reached any agreement on the budget.

Wide differences continue to separate moderates in the Senate (including Senators Snowe, Chafee, and Voinovitch), who so far are refusing to go any higher than the $350 billion cap on tax cuts in the Senate bill, from conservatives in the House who want the full $726 billion in cuts. Although there were efforts late last week and the beginning of this week to create some momentum for tax cuts of $550 billion, neither the moderates in the Senate nor the conservatives in the House appear willing to go for this solution. Other efforts to offset a higher tax cut number with revenue raisers and/or cuts in entitlements so far do not appear to be gaining much traction, although we need to stay vigilant.

It's important to keep up our calls and faxes to moderates in both the House and Senate, opposing massive tax cuts that jeopardize important domestic and foreign priorities. This position is totally consistent with the latest polling data showing that a majority of Americans do not believe Congress should pass the Administration's tax cuts because of budget deficits [now nearing a record $400 billion] and the costs of war. (See attached summary of the latest polling data.)

The Coalition is also planning major grassroots activities over the spring recess. For more information, go to Fair Taxes For All website or contact Julia Watthey by phone at (202-467-2312) or by e-mailing Fair Taxes For All.

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The start of the war in Iraq has affected various polling numbers, but some responses are consistent: no matter how the question is asked, Americans consistently prefer funding other priorities over cutting taxes.

The majority of Americans believe Congress should not pass the Bush tax cuts because of budget deficits and the costs of war. In a poll over the weekend of March 29-30, when asked which statement comes closer to their view, 52% of those polled sided with the statement that Congress should not pass "President Bush's tax cut plan" because of budget deficits and uncertainty about the costs of war. Only 38% chose the statement that Congress should pass the President's tax cut plan to stimulate economic growth.

Two-thirds of Americans agree with the Senate's action to cut the President's tax cut by more than half in order to pay for the war, reduce the deficit and preserve Social Security. On March 27, 65% of those polled said that they supported the Senate's decision to cut the President's proposed $726 billion tax cut to $350 billion to help pay for the war, reduce the deficit and shore up the Social Security fund.

More than half of Americans believe that the country cannot afford $350 billion in tax cuts. During the first week of April, 57% of those polled believed that the United States cannot afford a $350 billion tax cut that would increase the deficit at a time when Bush is requesting an additional $75 billion in immediate funding to finance the war in Iraq.

By a two-to-one margin, Americans prefer postponing or reducing tax cuts over reducing spending or increasing the deficit, as a way to pay for increased military and homeland security costs. When asked at the end of March how the United States should pay for the war, twice as many Americans preferred postponing or reducing tax cuts over either reducing spending on domestic programs or adding to the budget deficit. In February, asked how to pay for increases in the budget for the military and homeland security, by a two-to-one margin Americans favored postponing or reducing the 2001 tax cuts over reducing domestic spending or increasing the deficit.

Two-thirds of Americans prefer investments in domestic priorities over President Bush's proposed tax cuts. When asked whether they would prefer to have the Bush tax cut or to have the federal government spend more on domestic programs such as education, health care and Social Security, 67% of those polled in the middle and end of January preferred increased spending on domestic priorities, whereas only about 30% preferred the Bush tax cut.

Given the choice, an overwhelming majority of Americans consistently would rather preserve Social Security than cut taxes. By a factor of 7 to 1, Americans polled during the first week of April said that the $350 billion tax cut should not go through if money would have to be taken from Social Security funds to pay for other government programs as a result. Similarly, 85% of those polled in the third week of January said that if they had to choose they would rather preserve programs like Social Security and Medicare than cut taxes.

To improve the economy, Americans think reducing the federal budget deficit is a better strategy than cutting taxes. When asked which they think is the better way to improve the national economy, cutting taxes or reducing the federal budget deficit, 56% of those polled in the third week of January responded that reducing the federal budget deficit is better, while 36% preferred cutting taxes.

Most Americans believe that President Bush could be doing more to improve economic conditions. Over half (52%) of those polled during the last week of March believe that President Bush could be doing more to improve economic conditions. In addition, while the President's overall approval rating has increased to around 70% since the beginning of the war, support for his handling of the economy is much lower, ranging between 49% and 55% during the last week of March and the first week of April. But the war did give the President's economic approval ratings a boost from the lows it had reached: between January and mid-March, the percentage approving of the President's handling of the economy had dropped from about 50% to about 41%.

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