"Nevadans say income tax cuts should stay
But almost 30 percent polled would let lower rates expire
By STEVE TETREAULT
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- As Congress winds up for a big debate this fall over taxes, Nevadans in a new poll are sending a strong message: Don't take away my tax cuts.
By a wide margin, Nevada residents say they want lawmakers to continue reduced income tax rates for individuals and other tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003. They will expire at year's end unless they are extended .
Asked whether they wanted the tax cuts to expire or to continue, 61 percent said "continue" and 29 percent said "expire," in the poll taken this week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow.
Generally, people responded to the question with an eye on their wallets, which in Nevada these days are tending to be somewhat thin, said Brad Coker, managing director of the polling firm.
Danny Gonzales, professor of political science at Great Basin College in Elko, said he was surprised that close to 30 percent of Nevadans would want to give up lower rates they have enjoyed for almost a decade.
"I would think with the economic downturn you would expect there would be a larger portion of the citizenry that would like the tax cuts to continue," Gonzales said.
According to a poll breakdown, support for letting the tax cuts expire is coming from a combination of Democrats and independents presumably concerned that continuing them means less revenue for the federal treasury and a deepening of the nation's $1 trillion budget hole.
"That's their version of deficit reduction," Coker said.
In another issue before Congress , 38 percent of Nevadans favor a climate change bill that would include a "cap and trade" strategy to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from industrial plants. Forty-six percent said they oppose that legislation, passed by the House last year but shelved in the Senate .
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled that debate over extending the early-decade tax cuts will commence when senators return from summer recess in September. That could make it one of the issues freshest in the minds of voters going to the polls in November.
The "average middle income" family in Nevada would save $1,530 on their 2011 taxes if the tax cuts are extended, according to a study this month by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
The bulk of the tax cuts were passed in 2001 by a Republican-controlled Congress encouraged by President George W. Bush, who promised they would spur economic growth. Critics charged they only accelerated the nation's descent into budget deficits.
The so-called "Bush tax cuts" lowered the tax rates on individual income about 3 percent across the board, reduced taxes on married couples filing jointly and increased the child tax credit.
The legislation also reduced the tax rate on qualifying capital gains, and began phasing out the estate tax.
In 2003, still controlled by Republicans, Congress passed a second Bush tax package that reduced the top rate on capital gains from 20 to 15 percent, and cut the top tax rate on dividends from 35 percent to 15 percent.
But it all goes away unless Congress acts this fall. The flip side is that extending the tax cuts across the board could cost $238 billion next year, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation in Congress, and around $1 trillion over the next 10 years.
Heading into September, debate has centered on who should continue to benefit from the tax cuts, and at what cost.
President Barack Obama has proposed that the tax cuts expire for the wealthy -- individuals earning more than $200,000 and families with earned income of more than $250,000 -- but should be made permanent for everyone else, which he puts at roughly 98 percent of households.
While many Democrats are expected to rally around Obama, there is dissent. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., says Congress should not raise taxes on the wealthy in a soft economy.
Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., have made similar comments, along with a small group of House Democrats.
Republicans argue that job-generating small business owners would be hit with tax increases if the tax cuts are limited.
Nevada lawmakers are staking out positions. Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley favor Obama's proposal.
Berkley "is actively working on finding the best way to extend these key tax savings for Nevadans," aide David Cherry said.
"The question now remains how to extend existing tax cuts in a way that is also fiscally responsible and that means making some tough choices in Congress."
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., was said Friday she could consider raising the $250,000 threshold to continue tax cuts either across the board, or on certain individual taxes.
"For Nevadans who are fighting to get by -- paying the mortgage or sending their child to college -- extending tax cuts is critical," Titus said. "I would be open to examining individual tax breaks, such as the mortgage interest deduction that helps Nevada homeowners, and proposals to raise the $250,000 threshold."
Republicans Sen. John Ensign and Rep. Dean Heller want to continue all the tax cuts.
"Senator Ensign thinks raising taxes during a recession would be the wrong policy for our country, and if we do not act to extend the current tax rates then we are doing exactly that," said his spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper.
Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle believes the tax cuts "should be extended on all levels," spokesman Jerry Stacy said. "The private sector currently struggles to sustain itself, and we will see a bad situation grow even worse if the tax cuts are allowed to expire and the government is allowed to extract even more money from the private sector."
Republican Joe Heck, who is in a tight race with Titus, also wants them extended across the board.
"Congress must make the 2001 and 2003 middle class tax cuts permanent in order to create a stable economic environment for our small businesses and families," Heck said. "With Nevada sitting at a shocking 14.2 percent unemployment rate, we need to enact and sustain any incentives that allow the private sector to flourish and get Nevadans back to work."
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760."
http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevadans-say-tax-cuts-should-stay-100714039.html
i disagree. i think that everyday by should pay equal amount. if they make alot of money they should pay a higher tax.
This is a bad questions to ask. because there is so many different ways that you can answer this problem. a lot people said yes to cut to cut the taxs and lot people said no. but whats the real answer to this problem. i think people really dont know the awsner to the problem at all. it will effect both sides rich and poor. anyway you look at it. only thing we can do just wait and see this will turn out; and how this will help us in the long run and effect us.
