Social Security Reform Polling Swings

As the news from Florida and Minnesota consumes us, Chairman Ken Mehlman of the Republican National Committee reported last week that sentiment on reforming the Social Security system is beginning to shift as the President and GOP legislators get the word out in front of voters. Mr. Mehlman reports that Social Security reform is beginning to become a leading issue as follows:

First, more people have come to understand the structural problems facing Social Security's solvency over the last two months, and thus, the issue has become more important to them. The latest Gallup poll shows that Americans think Social Security is now the most important domestic issue. At 12%, Social Security has increased by 8% since January and is a greater concern than the economy (10%), health care (9%), or terrorism (9%).

The increased importance of Social Security is confirmed by several other polls. This week's Battleground 2006 poll found Social Security (17%) as the "number one problem for the President and Congress to deal with." Also a recent Harris poll found 37% of Americans think Social Security is the most important issue for the government to address, an increase of 33% from last October when just 4% thought it was the most important issue.

Mr. Mehlman's memo goes on to further explain that Americans in significant numbers do believe that the Social Security system is in need of some kind of repair and cites the following:

Second, more Americans agree that Social Security needs strengthening. According to the recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 72% of Americans think the Social Security system is headed down the road to a crisis or will require major changes in order to head of a crisis. Even seniors believe that changes are necessary to Social Security: a recent Ayres McHenry poll found 66% of Americans over age 55 believe that Social Security needs changes. A recent Gallup poll even found a majority of Americans (51%) believe that it is necessary for Congress to pass legislation to make changes to Social Security this year.

And as the President continues his campaign to inform the American people on his plan, support for Personal Retirement Accounts is starting to move to a majority. Mr. Mehlman cites the following:

Third, as Americans hear more and more about possible reforms, support for Personal Retirement Accounts has increased. A recent Gallup survey found that 58% of Americans believe that Social Security Legislation should "include a provision that would allow people who retire in future decades to invest some of their Social Security taxes in the stock market and bonds."

Support for Personal Retirement Accounts has increased. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, fifty-six percent (56%) of Americans support allowing workers to invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market, while 41% oppose such an idea. The number of Americans who support PRAs has increased by a net of 6% since last December, when 53% supported the plan and 44% opposed it. This is the highest level of support for PRAs since the Post first asked the question in 2000.

This is an encouraging sign. Now, if the President can convince those in the Republican party with weak knees, we may be able to move forward on a subject that has been on the back burner for far too many years. Of course, I probably should remind myself that all of the polls cited above predate last week's drop in the President's approval ratings.