Poll: Raise taxes on wealthy

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans support hiking taxes on the wealthy to avoid steep budget cuts and tax increases dubbed the "fiscal cliff," a poll indicates.

Though less than the 60 percent majority overall that supports higher taxes on those making $250,000 or more, 40 percent of self-identified Republicans in the poll said they, too, support higher taxes on the wealthy. That figure could offer potential wiggle room for GOP lawmakers who have pledged not to raise taxes but will face heavy pressure to do so by President Barack Obama, who campaigned and won on the pledge to charge rich people more, ABC News said Wednesday.

In addition to a majority of Americans' belief on taxes, two-thirds of respondents opposed raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 as part of a fiscal cliff deal, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found.

Though Americans surveyed were largely in agreement on taxes for the wealthy and Medicare, there was a much greater split on the issue of eliminating tax deductions. By a 49 percent to 47 percent margin, respondents disagreed with the general proposition of eliminating tax deductions as a way to pay down the national debt.

The poll was conducted Nov. 21-25 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.