Matt Yglesias

Voters Think Their Tax Burden Is Fair

Many media reports such as this article from The Wichita Eagle are acting as if the public’s view of the “tea party” astroturf protests is some kind of unknowable mystery:

More than 750 people, including U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, are expected to gather near Wichita Mid-Continent Airport post office on Wednesday for a taxpayer “tea party” to protest the federal economic stimulus package, organizers said. [...] Supporters of President Obama and the stimulus say the protesters are a small, vocal minority, and that most families will see an $800 annual tax cut from reduced withholding that’s part of the stimulus.

One gets hoarse repeating this sort of thing, but not only do “supporters of President Obama” “say” “that most families will get an $800 annual tax cut,” it’s actually the case that most families will get an $800 annual tax cuts. It’s true that the White House says this and that many of its supporters say this, but lots of people say lots of things. This thing happens to be true.

As for the “small, vocal minority” we saw this morning that 71 percent of Americans say they have confidence in Obama’s economic policies and this other Gallup poll shows that most Americans think their current tax burden is fair and reject the tea party overtaxation argument:

Now how small a minority is Brownback standing with? Well, we’re talking about 30-40 percent of the population. So it’s not that small a minority. Hostility to Obama’s economic policies is slightly less widespread than support for legalizing marijuana—much more than a fringe view, but clearly less than a majority. But in a country as large as the United States, adherents to minority viewpoints can often convince themselves that they’re in the majority. I frequently here people say that marijuana legalization is popular, presumably because it is popular in the sort of circles they/I travel in.