Poll: Unlike Americans, Canadians like to pay more taxes to protect welfare

[Franzl]

Don't you get relatively good numbers in the U.S., too, if you ask the question the same way?

Americans do tend to want the best of both worlds, of course. Don't cut defense spending! Give me a public option! And obviously, keep the government out of my Medicare. Oh, but don't raise any taxes to pay for all of this. We can solve the problem just by cutting government waste and closing loopholes. And by cutting politicians' salaries.

[Franzl]

Don't you get relatively good numbers in the U.S., too, if you ask the question the same way?

I don't think so. If you ask Americans if they favor or oppose raising taxes of middle-class Americans to balance the budget, they are opposed by about 20-70.

Yeah but the question as asked in this Canadian survey isn't about balancing the budget.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You'd have to slightly change the wording in the US because there isn't a comprehensive state-run safety net...but if you worded it "Would you be willing to pay slightly higher taxes in order to fund a public healthcare option/fund universities", etc., I do think you'd get a plurality in favor. (Or am I wrong here?)

Of course, that's not a good thing. It shows that the voters don't understand much about any of these topics if you can get totally different results based on the wording of your question, but this happens in most topics and on most issues....and in most countries too.