Majority of Americans support Occupy movement

A majority of Americans — and almost a third of Republicans — agree with the aims of the Occupy Wall St. movement, according to polls taken over the last ten days.

Alex Altman of TIME’s Swampland blog writes:

Among those surveyed by TIME who were familiar with Occupy Wall Street, sweeping majorities agreed with the movement’s grievance that the gap between rich and poor has grown too large, including 85% of households making under $50,000 per year and 65% of those making more than $100,000 annually. Almost three-quarters of households earning up to $100,000 backed the contention that the rich should pay more taxes. Even 52% of households making more than $100,000 per year agreed. Seventy-three percent support a surtax on millionaires to help close the federal deficit, a provision Senate Democrats recently tacked onto Obama’s proposal to put the GOP in the uncomfortable position of opposing it.

More details on the TIME poll here.

A United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll surveyed 1,007 adults between Oct. 13-16 also found broad support for taxing the rich and sympathy for Occupy Wall St.

Matthew Cooper of the National Journal reports:

When it comes to those Wall Street protests, there’s also a populist streak: Remarkably, nearly one-third of Republicans—31 percent—completely or mostly agree with their aims. The sour economy has sparked some class resentments in unexpected places, it seems. Those stirrings are unlikely to come to fruition in this divided Congress, but there’s no indication they’re going away anytime soon.

Comments are closed.