Seeing the Forest: Social Security – A Divide Between DC And The Rest Of Us

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August 12, 2010

Social Security – A Divide Between DC And The Rest Of Us

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.

The DC-elite think that "the responsible thing to do" is to cut Social Security benefits. The public who they are supposed to represent overwhelmingly thinks that Social Security is one of the few remaining lifelines and must not be cut. The public strongly favors investing in rebuilding the country's infrastructure, returning to taxation of the wealthy and corporations -- especially Wall Street, and cutting back the enormous military budget as the key ways to address the budget deficit.

This morning the results of a new poll were announced, and politicians would do well to take note. The poll, A Research Study On Investment and Deficit Reduction, By Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Democracy Corps, Campaign for Amerca's Future is described as follows:

Politicians will face major voter backlash if they advocate cuts in Social Security benefits or choose deficit reduction over job creation, according to a poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner commissioned by the Campaign for America’s Future and Democracy Corps, with support from MoveOn.org; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Service Employees International Union.

I'l like to bring that first sentence out and repeat it so that it is clear: Politicians will face major voter backlash if they advocate cuts in Social Security benefits or choose deficit reduction over job creation.

And again: Politicians will face major voter backlash if they advocate cuts in Social Security benefits or choose deficit reduction over job creation.

There is a brief slide show of the results here, a comprehensive Powerpoint presentation is online here, and full poll results are available here.

Key findings of the poll:

68 percent said they would oppose making major spending cuts in Social Security and Medicare to reduce the deficit, while 28 percent said they would favor cutting those programs. That included 61 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of independents.

Strong majorities support progressive solutions for addressing the federal deficit: 63 percent back lifting the Social Security cap on incomes higher than $107,000 a year; 64 percent would favor eliminating tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs; 62 percent would support a tax on excessive Wall Street bank profits.

Strong majorities also oppose common conservative proposals for addressing the budget deficit: 65 percent oppose raising the Social Security retirement age to 70; 65 percent oppose replacing Medicare with a private sector voucher; 62 percent oppose a 3 percent federal sales tax; 60 percent oppose raising the Medicare age from 65 to 67.

More people support a message that embraces the need for both investments in our future and reduce the deficit over time (52 percent) than a message that only stresses cuts in spending (42 percent). Also, almost equal percentages of respondents were favorable toward “a plan to invest in new industries and rebuild the country over the next five years” (60 percent) and “a plan to dramatically reduce the deficit over five years” (61 percent).

62 percent of respondents support more federal to states once they understand that the aid comes in the context of states laying off teachers, first responders and other essential workers due to the recession. That includes 55 percent of independents and 48 percent of Republicans.

60 percent of those surveyed responded positively to an economic message that said that “we have a budget deficit, but … we also have a massive public investment deficit” that requires us to “rebuild the infrastructure that is vital to our economy” and to the economic growth that will “generate revenues to help pay down the budget deficit.” This message tests better than any other progressive message on investment as well as more conservative messages focused on spending cuts.

Click here for more on the poll.

Click here to see which members of Congress have signed the "Hands Off Social Security!" pledge

Click here to sign the petition: Hands Off Social Security!

Click here to visit Strengthen Social Security ... don't cut it.

One more time: Politicians will face major voter backlash if they advocate cuts in Social Security benefits or choose deficit reduction over job creation.

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Posted by Dave Johnson at August 12, 2010 9:48 AM