Kevin Drum points at this fascinating Gallup poll result:
Note the Republican reaction to the elections of Bush, Obama, and Trump – big up, a somewhat less pronounced down, although it continued downward through Obama’s Administration, and then a rather frenetic up, respectively. Kevin’s thoughts:
Republican views of the taxes they pay improved substantially when Bush and Trump were elected—even before any actual changes were made to the tax code—while Democrats had essentially no reaction when Obama was elected. Likewise, Republican views declined sharply when Obama was elected, but Democratic views didn’t decline when Bush and Trump were elected.
But perhaps we should attend to other possible events that might have triggered changes in the perceptions of the nation-wide citizenry. I can think of a couple:
- The terrorist attack of September 9, 2001 – threaten someone’s safety and, in most cases, they’ll be happy to fork over more cash to fight a common enemy.
- The Great Recession – taking place in 2007-2008, the event was at least partially blamed on the government, and the government response of stabilizing a number of companies, rather than letting them go bankrupt, was deeply resented by a citizenry who did not receive similar support when a wave of foreclosures hit.
- The debate and passage of the ACA – resented by a GOP base told that it was being forced down their throat by a tyrannical Democratic majority (no, it was actually debated for a long period of time, but the GOP refused to participate in the important responsibility of governance) and that it was the socialization of medicine (this time the No is delivered with a great laugh), it’s no surprise that they considered the taxes they paid to be ill-spent.
- The mendacity of the right wing media during the Obama Administration. Long time readers already know the argument; for those who don’t, see Bruce Bartlett here. That influence, gobbled up by an audience eager to be outraged at the feckless liberals, naturally increased their dissatisfaction with the work of their taxes.
But these still leave the puzzle that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents have heightened sense of fairness of their taxes as Trump is elected. Now I indulge in pure speculation. First, the cause is not unitary. The Republicans finally have won the Presidency, as dissatisfying as that may turn out, and so feel better at the thought that they can spend more on the military, rather than helping their fellows who may have fallen on hard times.
Democrats and Independents, on the other hand, have had an abrupt and rude political awakening. Rather than being something they might discuss once a month with no research, now they know a bit more, they’re willing to go out and learn more, because Trump’s erratic actions and frighteningly awful nominees have gotten their attention and focused them on learning just what the hell happened – and how they can fix it,
And part of that process has been to learn just where their taxes go – and they’re happy about it. Perhaps Trump’s Administration doesn’t like the EPA, Planned Parenthood, NEA, and all the other programs on the chopping block. But they do.
