Analyst says majority OK with higher taxes if they’re ‘dedicated to a specific purpose’

Political analyst Bill Schneider said in an interview that aired Tuesday on “What America’s Thinking” that Americans are more likely to look at taxes in a positive light if they see the direct benefits from them. 

“Taxes are okay as long as they’re looked at as user fees,” Schneider, a former senior political analyst at CNN, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on Monday.

“You want a hunting license, that’s a user fee,” he continued. “It’s like a toll.”

“It’s dedicated to a specific purpose. That kind of tax people understand,” he said. 

Schneider was referring to a new Hill-HarrisX survey, which found that 60 percent of registered said they would not be okay with a higher 70 percent tax rate if they won $30 million in the lottery. 

Forty percent of respondents said they would be okay with a higher tax rate if they won the lottery. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) made headlines last month when she proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans as a way to pay for her “New Green Deal” climate change proposal and health care initiatives among other things.

When The Hill and HarrisX polled voters on the issue last month, 59 percent said they supported Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal. 

— Julia Manchester