Not So Fast There Mr. President

The American people are apparantly not as enthusiastic about Social Security privitization as President Bush is hoping that that they are(thanks to my colleague Jane Kim for bringing this report to my attention.)

The report, put together by The Century Foundation, combines the results of three different polls concerning this issue. In each of them the American public has demonstrated considerable skepticism about the necessity and benefit of Bush's privatization plan. Here are some of the numbers from the Westhill Partner's poll:

• President Bush has a 52% disapproval rating in his handling of Social Security
• Only 18% say the system needs to be "rebuilt"; 33% say it needs major changes, and 43% say the system needs only minor changes.
• 61% of voters say the November election does not mean the American people support his ideas on Social Security

Lately you've also probably heard the media repeating the claim(again and again and again)that younger people are much more favorable to the idea of privatization. The results in this poll by Roper Public Affairs for the AARP don't quite bear this out:

• 53% of younger adults oppose such accounts if stock market fluctuations could result in decreased money for retirment.
• 63% of younger adults oppose such accounts if they mean massive new federal debt in order to pay current benefits

And finally in this Newsweek poll:

• "Just 12% of the public would support cutting Social Security benefits to to retirees to keep Social Security financially solvent."

The privatization fanatics can read these numbers and weep. After two months of "prepping the field" for Social Security reforms, the majority of the American public are clearly not on their side. The American people may have fallen for the bogus WMD claims, but as Bush himself so succinctly said "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice...can't get fooled again." Indeed.