CNN Poll: 58% Say Social Security Needs Major Changes, 72% Disagree That It’s A “Monstrous Lie”
A new CNN poll on the Social Security issue that is dominating the GOP 2012 race right now indicates that a majority of Americans think Social Security needs major changes, but that a much larger majority disagree with the notion that the program is a “monstrous lie.”
Results here.
I wonder how different these poll results would be if more Americans had a better understanding of just what sort of situation Social Security is in.
For instance, how many Americans know that the Social Security Trust Fund is the #1 holder of national debt? That the trust fund is full of nothing but bonds that the US Treasury must make good on in order for the program to pay out benefits from the fund?
How many Americans know that Social Security is in deficit right now, having to pay out more in benefits than it collects in revenues? How many Americans know that the program’s deficit, because the trust fund is nothing but treasury bonds, is being added to the national debt right now?
How many of these Americans have given thought to how we’ll pay for a program that is already in deficit, and represents trillions in unfunded liabilities for the future?
Not many, I’d imagine, or the outcome of the poll would have been very different.
Tags: polls, social security
