Latinos Favor Raising Taxes On The Wealthy

Hispanics are largely in favor of the government raising taxes on the rich in order to reduce the budget deficit, according to the latest poll by Impremedia and Latino Decisions.

Almost half of those surveyed, 46 percent, said they believe the deficit should only be cut by raising taxes on the rich.  The poll also found that jobs and the economy are the top issues within the Hispanic community.

“The great majority of Hispanics say that it is better to raise taxes on the rich instead of cutting aid programs to the public,” Gary Segura, a professor of political sciences at Stanford University and researcher with Latino Decisions, said.  “In addition, the ImpreMedia survey reveals that jobs and the economy are the main concerns of Latino registered voters.”

Slightly less of the respondents, 37 percent, said they favored a mix of raising taxes and cutting spending.  Only 7 percent said that social programs should be cut.

“But the most important thing is that Latinos are liberals who favor (having) the government solve social problems. So, they’re not going to support the government cutting social programs,” said Segura.

Pilar Marrero, a political reporter with La Opinion, an ImpreMedia publication based in Los Angeles and one of the largest and most influential Spanish-language dailies in the country, says Hispanics differ in their politics from whites, who tend to mix religion with politics and favor more conservative measures.

“Latinos think that in the bad times of economic recession the government is a help, so the conclusion is that the profile of the Latino voter is politically and economically different,” she said.

The survey was conducted between July 27th and August 9th in 21 states with the largest concentrations of Hispanic voters. The margin of error is plus/minus 4.38 percent.

References:

Latin America Harold Tribune