The Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act has brought the Court back in the otherwise dormant public conscience and elicited opinions from Americans who might rarely even think about the nine Justices, a recent Gallup poll reveals.
Under fire was the popularity of Chief Justice John Roberts who departed from his previous conservative leanings to vote in favor of the Democrat-supported Affordable Care Act. Unsurprisingly, Roberts’ regard among the nations Republicans dropped 40% since he was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Conversely, Democrats have changed their tune from a 35% approval of Roberts in 2005 to a 54% approval since the landmark healthcare decision.
Overall opinion about the Supreme Court reflected a similar trend, with SCOTUS falling out of favor with Republicans, with a disapproval rating doubling from 32% in 2005 to 64% now. The Court has grown in esteem for 68% Democrats, 46% of whom approved of the court in 2005.
In another survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press 1,015 adults were asked between July 12-15 about their opinions on increasing taxes for incomes above $250,000. A two-to-one majority of participants (44% to 22%) said that taxing higher incomes would help the economy and 44% to 21% say it would make the tax system more fair. Conversely, only 24% said taxing the rich would make no difference in the economy, and 25% said it would have little effect on the fairness of the tax system.
Looking at the issue from party lines, the overwhelming majority (64%) of Democrats say that increasing taxes for incomes above $250,000 would help the economy and help balance the fairness of the tax system (65%). Intuitively, Republicans would show a majority opinion in the opposite, but that opinion significantly misses the majority mark, with only 41% saying that taxing higher incomes would hurt the economy, and 36% of Republicans said it would make the tax system more fair.
Follow Elise Rambaud Marrion on Twitter @emarrion_cmn.
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