New Morning Consult poll:
Sixty-five percent of registered voters said they strongly or somewhat support funding Biden’s infrastructure plan through 15 years of higher taxes on corporations, while 21 percent somewhat or strongly oppose it.
With Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) already pledging that there will be no GOP support in Congress for increasing corporate tax rates to fund the infrastructure plan, this could be the Biden administration’s second large spending package pushed through reconciliation, a process that allows a simple majority vote.
However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already drawn a line in the sand on raising the corporate tax rate, telling a West Virginia radio station that 25 percent would be a more appropriate rate.
While the new poll doesn’t mention a specific level of taxation, the concept of raising taxes on corporations to fund Biden’s infrastructure plan is overwhelmingly backed by Democratic voters, with 85 percent support. Just 4 percent of Democrats said they oppose the tax hike.
Republican voters were nearly split: 42 percent back the president’s plan to raise corporate taxes, while 47 percent oppose it. Independents were much more likely to support funding the infrastructure plan through corporate tax hikes (60 percent) than not (21 percent).
When voters were presented with the choice between making improvements to America’s infrastructure funded through increases to the corporate tax or improving infrastructure only if it were done without the tax increases, 53 percent backed the former option.
Biden should have said he wanted to raise it to 31 percent (still lower than it was just five years ago) so that Manchin could flex his muscle by saying he would only accept 28. That’s obviously how to deal with him.
That isn’t really enough. I think they should just raise it back up to 35%. That’s still very low by historical standards and business is booming. A large majority of the public is clearly enthusiastic about a big infrastructure investment and it is fine with taxing corporations. Now is the time. Biden has to find a way to deal with Emperor Manchin.