Political analyst Vanessa Williamson said in an interview that aired on “What America’s Thinking” that the majority of Americans do not have a problem with higher taxes on the wealthy.
“Even though at the elite level of Washington you hear so much anti-tax rhetoric, rank-and-file Americans are actually very happy to tax the wealthy,” Williamson, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on Tuesday.
A new Hill-HarrisX survey released on Wednesday found that 74 percent of Americans said they would support an annual 2 percent tax on people with assets more than $50 million and a 3 percent tax on people with assets in excess of $1 billion.
“This question, in particular, named millionaires and billionaires specifically,” Williamson said, referring to the survey. “When you say ‘very rich,’ some people think, ‘Oh maybe a doctor.’ When you say ‘millionaires’ and ‘billionaires’ people are like, ‘Oh, you can tax those folks for sure.'”
The poll’s results could be good news for multiple Democrats.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has launched a 2020 exploratory committee, proposed a wealth tax last month.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another potential 2020 contender, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have also called for higher taxes on the wealthy.
— Julia Manchester
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