Americans Overwhelmingly Reject Redistribution

In some heartening news, new poll results from Gallup show that Americans decisively reject redistributionist policies by an 84 percent‐​13 percent margin. Even Democrats prefer that government focuses on growth rather than redistribution by a margin of 77 percent‐​19 percent. A blogger for the New Republic claims the question was poorly worded, but that seems like wishful thinking. People were basically asked whether government should focus on making the pie bigger or focus on re‐​slicing the pie, and the results are very encouraging:

…given a choice about how government should address the numerous economic difficulties facing today’s consumer, Americans overwhelmingly — by 84% to 13% — prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans. … Americans’ lack of support for redistributing wealth to fix the economy spans political parties: Republicans (by 90% to 9%) prefer that the government focus on improving the economy, as do independents (by 85% to 13%) and Democrats (by 77% to 19%). This sentiment also extends across income groups: upper‐​income Americans prefer that the government focus on improving the economy and jobs by 88% to 10%, concurring with middle‐​income (83% to 16%) and lower‐​income (78% to 17%) Americans. … In sum, free‐​market advocates can take considerable solace in Americans’ overwhelming belief that the government should not focus on redistributing income and wealth, but on improving the overall economy. And, to a lesser degree, Americans also believe government continues to do too much — not too little — to solve the nation’s problems.