Good piece by pollster Mark Mellman on the end of the tax revolt era. "Earlier this month, 53 percent of respondents told Gallup the amount they paid in federal income tax was too high. Though still a majority, it represents a significant decline from the two-thirds who thought their taxes were too high in the late ’90s. In 1993, 67 percent of Americans told Harris they “had reached the breaking point on the amount of taxes they paid.” A decade later that figure dropped by 15 points. CBS found 49 percent saying they paid more than their fair share in 1997, but just 37 percent taking that position this month."
So that's good. Mellman goes on to document the public's odd view that most of this money is simply wasted. Of course, ask Americans if they want to cut spending on big ticket items, and their response is swift and furious: Of course not! We need those billions going into outdated weapons systems, and we need the entitlement programs, and the FDA, and all the rest.
So sure, the tax revolt may be ending. But I don't think that's quite the same as an opinion shift opening the way towards new revenues. And here I'll reiterate what's always my advice on taxes: Money can be assumed as waste because general fund revenues simply disappear from view. Folks have no idea what they're getting, and so assume they're getting nothing. Dedicated taxes -- the payroll tax for Social Security, say, or a 3% income tax increase for health care -- seem much more politically sustainable, as the transaction is more akin to a purchase rather than a blind pay-in. If you tell the people what they're buying, they'll at least have the opportunity to judge the product worth it.
