As tax day approaches, the broadcast networks have refused to report reality -- that most voters want lower taxes.
Providing middle class “tax relief” and simplifying the tax code were key elements of President Donald Trump’s tax proposal. News coverage failed to notice. Since election day, the broadcast networks have ignored three different polls showing American voters want lower taxes. However, the covered other polls showing President Trump’s low approval rating and pessimism about replacing Obamacare.
Gallup found that 57 percent of voters thought their income tax was too high in 2016 -- up from 51 percent in April 2015.
Two additional polls from March 2017 showed that voters thought taxes were too high and supported tax reductions “across the board.” A March 8 poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, showed 58 percent of voters supported “reducing taxes across the board.”
A separate poll by Fox News found 73 percent of voters though the “tax system should be reformed” in 2017. The poll aso found 55 percent of voters thought the taxes they personally paid this year were too high. The Fox News poll was conducted March 12-14, and published March 29.
The broadcast networks have had ample opportunity to report voters’ call for tax reform. They just haven’t done so.
For example, after Republicans failed to replace ObamaCare, NBC White House correspondent Hallie Jackson asked on the April 2 Today show “how difficult” the defeat would make it for Trump “to do things like tax reform.” Jackson ignored that a majority of voters support tax reform.
A new Gallup poll released April 13, 2017 found Americans are “more positive about their taxes this year.” According to the poll, 61 percent say their federal income tax is fair, but 51 percent still say their taxes are too high.
“The increase this year may suggest that Americans are anticipating a tax cut from Trump,” Gallup suggested.
The networks ought to report on Gallup’s latest tax poll, but their track record is dismal.
Methodology:
MRC Business searched for references to “tax” and “poll” or “survey” in ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening broadcasts since November 8, 2016. Of the 47 results, none of the stories addressed tax-related polls.
