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Did the Bush Score on Social Security?
Earlier Poll Says Public Likes Less in Social
Security for Wealthy, But No Cuts in Benefit Growth
 April 30, 2005 – The Pew Research Center went back
and looked at extensive public polling they did in February to see how
the latest ideas proposed by President Bush might fair with the public.
Not too surprisingly, they do not like the idea of slowing benefits but
they do favor limiting benefits for the wealthy.
The public is squarely with the president on the
urgency of the issue. Pew Research Center polling in February found
nearly three-quarters of Americans wanting action on fixing Social
Security, either right away or in the next few years.
But there is little public support for the general
idea of slowing benefit growth. The Pew survey found only 30% of the
public responding favorably to the idea of "lowering the amount that
Social Security benefits go up each year for changes in the cost of
living" as a way of dealing with the retirement program's problem. Even
among conservative Republicans just 35% favor this idea.
The Pew's survey found much stronger support for
another element in Bush's new proposals. A 58% majority favor limiting
"benefits for wealthy retirees" Even six in ten Americans earning
$100,000 or more per year back this measure.
Support for the center piece of the president's
proposals, establishing private accounts , remains tepid at best and
well below what it was before Bush launched his campaign to sell it to
the public. Just 46% favor the proposal, down from as high as 58% last
September.
However, the president failed to mention one of the
most popular alternatives observed in Pew's survey: raising the payroll
tax limit to cover all earnings. Fully 60% of the public says it
supports that measure.
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