Gallup: Independents Overwhelmingly Oppose GOP Tax Plan

image
Published: 06 Dec, 2017
2 min read

An overwhelming number of independent voters oppose the GOP tax reform plan, Gallup reported Tuesday. A slim 25 percent of non-affiliated voters say they support the tax plan, while 56 percent say they disapprove of the current bills.

Predictably, partisan voters divided up along party lines in the survey, with 70 percent of Republicans in favor of their party's efforts. Meanwhile, only 7 percent of Democrats feel the same.

Because of the weak support from Democrats and independent voters, overall support among U.S. adults is low. Only 29 percent of all respondents said they approve of the proposed tax reforms.

A significant number of respondents were also undecided or had no opinion at 16 percent overall.

Independents made up the most of this group with 19 percent of independent voters saying they had no opinion. (14 percent of Republicans and 7 percent of Democrats had no opinion.)

As The Hill points out:

"Public uncertainty about the GOP tax plan is largely concentrated among independents and Republicans, a sign that support for the plan could still grow if the GOP can convince holdouts in those two groups. Nineteen percent of independents and 14 percent of Republicans told Gallup they didn't yet have an opinion of the tax plan."

Tweaks to the bill to win over independents and some undecided Democrats and Republicans may be difficult in a Congress that has just set the record for blocking the most debate and amendments to bills of any Congress in history.

This prompted Justin Amash (R-Mich.) - who supports the GOP tax bill - to call this Congress "really broken."

IVP Donate

Mass disapproval for the GOP tax bill may also be related to initial Republican promises that their tax plan would not raise taxes on any middle-class taxpayers, followed by backpedaling and an admission that their plan would raise taxes on some middle-class income earners in an apparent bait and switch.

Republican leaders said they "misspoke" when they promised no tax increases on middle-class taxpayers.

But we cannot overlook another likely explanation for the public's reaction to current tax reform efforts.

More voters than ever before are not affiliated with either of the two major parties, and thus are less likely to support legislation simply for partisan reasons. Instead, they are more likely to consider the merits and flaws of a bill without letting partisanship affect their judgment.

You Might Also Like

Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
The latest Independent Voter Podcast episode takes listeners through the messy intersections of politics, reform, and public perception. Chad and Cara open with the irony of partisan outrage over trivial issues like a White House ballroom while overlooking the deeper dysfunctions in our democracy. From California to Maine, they unpack how the very words on a ballot can tilt entire elections and how both major parties manipulate language and process to maintain power....
30 Oct, 2025
-
1 min read
California Prop 50 gets an F
Princeton Gerrymandering Project Gives California Prop 50 an 'F'
The special election for California Prop 50 wraps up November 4 and recent polling shows the odds strongly favor its passage. The measure suspends the state’s independent congressional map for a legislative gerrymander that Princeton grades as one of the worst in the nation....
30 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
bucking party on gerrymandering
5 Politicians Bucking Their Party on Gerrymandering
Across the country, both parties are weighing whether to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, and Virginia are all in various stages of the action. Here are five politicians who have declined to support redistricting efforts promoted by their own parties....
31 Oct, 2025
-
4 min read