Plurality oppose Obama's overall debt plan

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. voters may oppose President Obama's deficit reduction plan, but most support raising taxes on the wealthy, a Rasmussen Reports survey indicated.

Results released Thursday indicate 37 percent of likely voters favor Obama's plan while 42 percent oppose it. Another 21 percent said they weren't sure.

Among other things, Obama's proposals to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction called for an expiration of the lower tax rates for wealthier taxpayers enacted during President George W. Bush's administration. He also called for an extension of the Bush-era rate cuts for the middle class.

Fifty-three percent of likely voters said they favor the so-called Buffett Rule, referring to billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett, who has complained that the wealthiest Americans pay a smaller portion of their income in federal taxes than do middle-income workers.

Twenty-nine percent said they oppose the minimum tax rate for million-dollar earners while 17 percent said they were undecided, Rasmussen Reports said.

Results indicated voters earning more than $100,000 annually were more supportive of a minimum tax rate on millionaires than those earning less than $100,000 a year.

Results are based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted Tuesday and Wednesday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.