Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.

Fifty-two percent of adults say they'd support killing the tax cut "if doing so helped to avoid a deficit in the federal budget," while 32 percent would want the tax cut to go ahead — a 20-point margin in favor of canceling it.

Without the positive attribute of avoiding a deficit, dropping the tax cut is still preferred, but by less of a margin: Among respondents who were asked simply if they support or oppose canceling the tax cut, 45 percent favored canceling it, 36 percent keeping it.

The Tax Cut Dilemma
Measure	Support	Oppose	No Opinion
Cancel the tax cut	45%	36%	19%
Cancel tax cut if it avoids deficit	52%	32%	16%

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., last week urged dropping the tax cut for families with incomes of more than $130,000 a year. It's a sensitive issue for the Democrats, since some of them voted in favor of the 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut.

Bush, for his part, has pledged the tax cut will stand.

This poll suggests that the views of Kennedy and his allies are most persuasive when coupled with the risk of a deficit. But a sizable number of people have no opinion on the issue, suggesting that neither side has yet firmly won its case in the public's mind.

Methodology

This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone Jan. 17-20, 2002, among a random national sample of 853 adults. The results have a 3.5-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our Poll Vault.