In an interview a week before Election Day, President Obama declared that if he won again, it would be mandate for making cuts, but also for raising taxes on the highest income earners.
Reviewing Election Day exit poll data, however, tells a different story.
Looking at the voting patterns broken down by income earning amounts (based on 2011 total family income), there are only TWO categories out of six that Obama won more than 50% of the vote. Those are:
Under $30,000: Obama 63% Romney 35%
$30,000 – $49,999: Obama 57% Romney 42%
The other four out of the six categories had Romney with over 50% of the vote. Those are:
$50,000 – $99,999: Obama 46% Romney 52%
$100,000 – $199,999: Obama 44% Romney 54%
$200,000 – $249,999: Obama 47% Romney 52%
$250,000 or more: Obama 42% Romney 55%
The electorate that voted from Obama – voters whose households earned under $50,000 – are also the same citizens who pay the least amount of taxes. The voters who already pay the most in taxes voted for Romney.
The only “mandate to raise taxes”, therefore, comes from the population of taxpayers who prefer others to pay more in tax so they can continue to pay less. The only clear lesson from the election is that President Obama has created class warfare as it has never been seen before.
(crossposted at redstate.com/alanjoelny)