Billionaire tax to bolster Social Security popular in swing states

Voters in swing states are overwhelmingly supportive of taxing billionaires to support Social Security benefits, a new survey found.

More than three-fourths — 77 percent — of voters across seven key swing states approved of the idea of raising taxes for billionaires to extend the life of Social Security, according to the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey published Wednesday.

Of those surveyed, 57 percent strongly supported raising taxes on billionaires and 20 percent somewhat supported the idea. Just 15 percent of respondents opposed the idea, and 7 percent said they didn’t know.

The survey was conducted among registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Additionally, 56 percent of voters supported the idea of collecting a social security tax on wages beyond the first $168,600 per year, meaning anyone who made more than that would pay higher taxes, as well.

Voters across the swing states surveyed also supported giving those with higher incomes fewer benefits: 28 percent of respondents strongly supported trimming benefits for people with higher incomes, and 29 percent said they somewhat support the idea.

According to the survey, Social Security and Medicare are the fifth-most important issues for voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, just behind the economy, immigration, abortion and democracy.

Respondents said they think President Biden is more trustworthy to handle senior services than former President Trump. Of those surveyed, 44 percent said Biden is better suited to handle senior services, followed by 39 percent who said they trust Trump more to handle senior services. Likewise, 16 percent of those surveyed said they did not believe either candidate to be trustworthy enough to handle senior services.

Biden unveiled his budget proposal in early March for the coming fiscal year. It called for cutting taxes for low- and middle-income families, reforms to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and increased taxes on billionaires and individuals who make more than $400,000 a year.

The survey was conducted April 8-15 among 4,969 registered voters in swing states and has a margin of error of 1 percentage point.