Poll, Tax Hikes | featured news

Negotiations are expected to continue Thursday on the "fiscal cliff" with Republicans at a growing public opinion disadvantage and approval ratings for President Barack Obama rising to levels not seen since the killing of Osama bin Laden.

First Read: As the Obama White House and Congress negotiate to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they favor a balanced deal, consisting of both higher tax rates and cuts key entitlement programs.

Six in 10 Americans support a tax increase on annual income of more than $250,000, according to a nationwide poll released Wednesday.

Fifty-three percent of Americans said Republicans in Congress would be more to blame if the government could not reach an agreement to avoid the combination of spending cuts and tax hikes set to take effect at the beginning of the year.

Americans support raising taxes on the rich by a two-to-one margin, with many believing an increase would both help the economy and make the tax system fairer, according to a Pew poll released Monday afternoon. Forty-four percent of adults surveyed said that raising taxes on incomes above $250,000 would help the economy and increase fairness, while 22 percent said it would hurt the economy and 21 percent that it would make the system less fair.

Less than a quarter of wealthy Americans support raising taxes on households making $250,000 or more a year, the level being targeted by President Barack Obama, though tax increases further up the income scale have broader support, said a poll released on Tuesday.