More Americans oppose than favor the government providing a universal basic income - 54% U.S. adults say they would oppose the federal government providing a guaranteed income of about $1,000 per month for all adult citizens, whether or not they work; 45% favor the proposal for all adult citizens

The intensely interesting part about every survey like this is the self-contained evidence that respondents are unable to isolate separate ideas, instead relying on assumptions about related ideas that aren't part of the question, or a motivation that the law will impact OTHER people in a specific way that they prioritize more than the impact on themselves.

Support among republicans, especially wealthy ones, for tax cuts is overwhelming. Proposing a tax cut of $1000/month is a clear win for R's, somewhere north of 80% if you extrapolate from this survey. You get that much more money in your pocket. That same individual could expect an identical benefit from a $1000/month UBI for all adults, and yet support in that same group is 8%.

For democrats, the margins are slimmer and the conclusions more muddled, but higher taxes are generally supported, and tax cuts opposed. 66% of all democrats support a UBI, which for a specific voter could impact them equivalently to a $1000 tax cut. But the UBI garners much stronger support than a tax cut of that magnitude.

Now. obviously these scenarios aren't the reality facing every voter. The rich R knows that a poor R can't get a $1000/month tax cut, because they don't pay anywhere close to that much in taxes, the tax cut benefits the rich man but not the poor man, while the UBI benefits both. And sure enough we see much stronger support among poor R's, but still less than with rich D's.

Still, I truly can't believe that a majority of poor republicans, and an overwhelming majority of rich ones, are just so bothered by the idea that a poor man might get something undeserved, that they're willing to forgo $1000/month themselves just to keep them down. The psychological barrier seems tied to the idea that UBI is "giving" and taxes are "taking" and in a fiercely individualistic culture, both are considered "bad", the math doesn't seem to matter.

/r/Economics Thread Link - pewresearch.org