A new poll by John Zogby shows that when people actually understand how personal Social Security accounts work, the majority support them. Makes perfect sense to me. The poll also shows that the public dislikes the fact that the Democrats oppose Bush’s reform proposals without putting out any kind of a realistic alternative.
Most likely voters continue to support President Bush’s proposal to let younger workers invest some of their Social Security payroll taxes through personal accounts, a new survey finds.
The poll by independent pollster John Zogby for the Cato Institute, which is being released today, found that when voters understood the benefits of personal investment accounts, including a better financial rate of return than the current system, the Bush plan was supported by 52 percent of Americans and opposed by 40 percent.
“The thing that is compelling in this poll is that this is the response you get when you use a positive approach on Social Security reform,” Mr. Zogby said. “If you use the ‘Chicken Little, sky-is-falling’ approach, then voters understand that something has to be done, but don’t see the connection between personal accounts and fundamental reform of Social Security.”
“There are a large number of voters, especially those under 50, who don’t think they are getting the best possible deal from Social Security,” he said.
As in past surveys on the president’s personal-accounts proposal, strongest support comes from younger voters under age 30, who embrace the idea by a margin of 66 percent to 23 percent.Support declines somewhat among voters between 30 and 50, with 58 percent in favor versus 37 percent who oppose it.
Voters over 65 oppose personal accounts 52 percent to 40 percent and those over 70 oppose them by 55 percent to 38 percent.
The survey also contained a warning for the Democrats about how their opposition to any reform of the Social Security system is playing with the electorate.
“By an overwhelming 70-22 percent margin, voters believe that opponents of President Bush’s proposals for Social Security reform have an obligation to put out their own plan for reforming the program,” including 55 percent of Democratic voters, Mr. Zogby said in a report of his findings.
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