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Americans Deciding Social Security Reform Not Such A
Hot Idea
War bounces back as top concern, Social Security
drops to second, Medicare barely mentioned, drug prices drop off chart
By Tucker Sutherland
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Click chart for larger view.
Compares publics concern about the war, Social Security and the
economy. |
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June 18, 2005 – A poll was released yesterday that
indicates the public is losing interest in Social Security reform after
the initial push by President Bush in January drove it to
the number one issue concerning U.S. voters. By February had over-shadowed the war in Iraq and the economy as the top issue
Americans wanted addressed by Washington. The headlines from this Harris
Poll, however, were about the continued decline in the job approval ratings for
the President, but certainly part of this is due to his insistency on
reforming Social Security.
When asked to name the two most important issues
for the government to address -- without prompting or using a list --
the war is mentioned by the most number of people (24%) while Social
Security is second having been mentioned by 19 percent. This is a large
drop from April when almost one-third (31%) said Social Security was the
most important issue for the government to address and it drops from the
number one spot for the first time since October.
The only other issues seen as the most important to
address by 10 percent or more of the public are the economy, which is
mentioned by 18 percent, a large tick upward from the 13 percent who
mentioned it in April, and healthcare which is mentioned by 10 percent,
a slide downward from the 14 percent who mentioned it as important in
April.
Interestingly, Medicare, which is a much larger
financial problem for the U.S. than Social Security, still ranks very
low in public concern.
Prescription drug prices, which had at least been
showing up on about one percent of the responses, dropped off the chart
this month. Maybe senior citizens see help on the way in January with
the new Medicare prescription drug program.
The chart below shows the results over time when
voters were asked, "What do you think are the two most important issues
for the government to address?" Issues that are of high importance
primarily to senior citizens are highlighted in yellow. The numbers are
percentages.
|
'03
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'04
|
'04
|
'04
|
'04
|
'05
|
'05
|
'05
|
|
Jun
|
Feb
|
Jun
|
Aug
|
Oct
|
Feb
|
April
|
Jun
|
(The) war
|
8
|
13
|
39
|
24
|
35
|
30
|
23
|
24
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Social security
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
4
|
37
|
31
|
19
|
The economy (non-specific)
|
25
|
31
|
28
|
32
|
28
|
11
|
13
|
18
|
Healthcare (not Medicare)
|
14
|
16
|
10
|
17
|
18
|
14
|
14
|
10
|
Education
|
13
|
11
|
8
|
9
|
7
|
7
|
9
|
7
|
Iraq / (Saddam Hussein)
|
3
|
6
|
4
|
6
|
9
|
11
|
6
|
7
|
Energy/gas and oil prices
|
1
|
*
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
6
|
Terrorism
|
11
|
4
|
5
|
11
|
7
|
4
|
4
|
6
|
Employment/jobs
|
8
|
16
|
10
|
10
|
10
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
Taxes
|
11
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
Federal budget surplus/ deficit
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
2
|
2
|
10
|
6
|
4
|
Immigration
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
Abortion
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
4
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(Programs for) the poor/ poverty
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
*
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2
|
2
|
3
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National security
|
6
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
3
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Homeland/domestic security/ public safety
|
3
|
8
|
1
|
5
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
3
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Domestic/social issues (non-specific)
|
1
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
3
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Medicare
|
4
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2
|
3
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