PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans want the Bush tax cuts extended for households earning less than $500,000, a poll indicates.
Forty percent said the lower rates should be maintained for everyone while 44 percent favored some income cutoff, the Gallup Poll reported Wednesday.
Five percent called for a threshold of $1 million, 12 percent at $500,000 and 26 percent at $250,000.
Respondents said the extension should be temporary by a margin of 45 percent to 37 percent.
Few people of any political persuasion want the tax cuts to expire but most Republicans said they should be extended for everyone while the majority of Democrats favored income eligibility limits.
Most Republicans, 56 percent, said the tax cuts should be permanent while even more Democrats, 69 percent, said they should be temporary.
Half said it is "very important" that the lame-duck Congress act on the issue while 31 percent called it "somewhat important."
The telephone survey of 1,037 adults was conducted Nov. 19-21, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
