Overwhelmingly, by a 33% net margin, top 1%ers wanted Social Security spending to be "cut back." Even more overwhelmingly, by a net 46% margin, the general public wants it to be "expanded."
By a net 19% margin, those rich want federal spending for health care to be "cut back"; and the public, by a net 44% margin, want it to be "expanded."
81% of the rich oppose the idea that "The government in Washington ought to see to it that everyone who wants to work can find a job." 68% of the general public favor that same idea.
92% of the rich oppose the idea that "The federal government should provide jobs for everyone able and willing to work who cannot find a job." 53% of the general public support it.
77% of the rich oppose the idea that "The government should provide a decent standard of living for the unemployed." 50% of the general public do.
60% of the rich oppose a "minimum wage high enough so that no family with a full-time worker falls below official poverty line." 78% of the general public support that proposal.
68% oppose "national health insurance, which would be financed by tax money, paying for most forms of health care." 61% of the general public support that proposal.
59% of the rich are not "willing to pay more taxes in order to provide health coverage for everyone." The exact same percentage, 59% of the general public are "willing" to do that; they have far less money, but are far more willing to help others.
72% of the rich oppose that "The federal government should make sure that everyone who wants to go to college can do so." 78% of the general public support that proposal.
65% of the rich oppose that "The federal government should spend whatever is necessary to ensure that all children have really good public schools they can go to." 87% of the general public support that proposal.
Well over 90% of both groups, 98% of the rich and 92% of the public, support that "High school students should be offered the option of taking vocational education to prepare them for work immediately following high school [vs. all students being required to pursue a college track]." (Perhaps the rich agree on that because this proposal will give them, at public expense, trained workers.)
55% of the rich agree "The government has an essential role to play in regulating the market." 71% of the public do.
By a net margin of 18% the rich agree that there should be more "federal regulation" of "Wall Street firms." By a net margin of 45% the public do.
By a net margin of 5% the rich agree that there should be more "federal regulation" of "Oil industry." By a net margin of 50% the public do.
38% of the rich agree that "Government should use ... corporate income taxes [paid ultimately by stockholders, mainly themselves] ... a lot ... for getting the revenue to fund government programs." 62% of the public do.
17% of the rich agree that "Our government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich." 53% of the public do.
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