Harris Poll examines Inequality

From the recent Harris poll:

The key findings of this poll include:

    * Only 10% of adults (and only 19% of Republicans) think that economic inequality is "not a problem at all". Most people think it is either a major problem (57%) or a minor problem (23%);
    * Most people (62%), including 43% of Republicans and 60% of Independents, think it is important that "the government introduce policies to reduce inequality in the U.S.", and 34% think this is very important;
    * Inequality is thought to have many causes including the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, India and other countries (81%), the influence of big business (78%) and the very rich (76%) on government, and the tax system (77%);
    * A 60% majority thinks that taxes on the middle class are too high, while most people think that taxes are too low on the people with incomes of $1 million (62%) and on billionaires (69%); and,
    * Most people think that "increasing taxes on the very rich" would be fair (70%), be the right thing to do (69%), and would help to reduce the budget deficit (64%). Only 32% of all adults think that "it would hurt the economy because they are the ones who create jobs".

In other words, most people agree with positions taken by President Obama and Democrats on the issue of inequality.

However, other findings of this Harris Poll suggest that it may not be easy for the President's camp to turn these feelings into votes. When asked which party would be likely to do a better job of addressing the issue of inequality, the Democrats only lead by 38% to 23%, with fully 39% saying an "other party" or that they are not sure. And, when asked which of the presidential candidates would do the best job of addressing inequality, only 39% choose President Obama, while 36% choose one of the current Republican candidates, and 26% are not sure.