Democrats swept the 2026 midterms, but California rejected its wealth tax. Here is why taxing wealth in the U.S. is so hard and what lawmakers could try instead. President Joe Biden is asking congressional Democrats to vote for a tax increase that will test a long-held liberal article of faith: that many wealthy Democrats won’t mind paying more in taxes if they can be convinced the money would lead to greater prosperity for everyone. On average, two out of three (67 percent) Americans supported the tax including 84 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Independents, and 51 percent of Republicans. In national polls, a wealth tax had similarly high levels of support. Republicans and Democrats across US agree: Tax the wealthy | Opinion According to our findings, voters do not seem to be buying the idea that, to encourage investment, the wealthy need to have a. Four in five Americans support raising taxes on the rich (79 percent), including 94 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of independents, and 63 percent of Republicans. MA: What the Senator seems to be tapping into is a sense by Americans that they're paying too much in taxes. Now about half of Americans don't think the tax they're paying is fair. In California, a first-in-the-nation bid for a 5 percent tax on billionaires’ assets to fund health care services has riven the Democratic coalition, driving a wedge through organized labor and.