On the March 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) corrected host Chris Matthews's groundless claim that “people trust Republicans more than Democrats” to handle taxes. During a discussion on the 2006 midterm elections, Matthews asked Emanuel, “Why do people trust Republicans more than Democrats on tax cutting?” Emanuel replied: "[I]if you look at even your own data and your own polling, they don't." Indeed, recent polling supports Emanuel's contention that more Americans trust Democrats than Republicans on taxes.

As Media Matters for America has noted, three recent polls that asked specifically which party respondents support on tax policy vindicate Emanuel's claim. A February 7-8 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll (with a margin of error of +/-3 percent) found that 43 percent of voters believed that Democrats “would do a better job” on the issue of taxes, compared with 38 percent for Republicans. In a February 1-5 Pew Research Center poll, 46 percent said that Democrats “can do a better job” on tax issues, compared with 35 percent who chose Republicans. The margin of error was +/-3 percent. And a January 22-25 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll with a +/-3-percent margin of error found that 43 percent of Americans said Democrats would do “a better job of handling taxes” than the president, while 34 percent favored President Bush. Emanuel's comment directing Matthews to NBC's “own data and your own polling,” may have been a reference to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey conducted January 26-29, which found that 53 percent of respondents disapproved of George W. Bush's handling of the economy, 40 percent approved, and 7 percent were not sure.

From the March 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Why do people -- excuse me. Why do people trust Republicans more than Democrats on tax cutting?

EMANUEL: Well, they don't. First of all, if you look at even your own data and your own polling, they don't. Democrats are gaining and not only holding their lead on traditional Democratic issues of education and healthcare and other types of investments.

We now hold an advantage over Republicans on fiscal discipline, taxes, and stewardship of economy. And because of what they've done, they've seen six years of Republican stewardship, and they want a change. They want new priorities and a new direction that, again, invest in American people while putting our fiscal house in order. We can do that, it's just they've now seen six years of Republican stewardship, and they want to change directions.