A new CBS/NYT poll says Dubya is out of step with most of the country when it comes to priorities, both foreign and domestic. And people are really getting antsy about his Social Security "reforms."
An excerpt:
The poll underscores just how little headway Mr. Bush has made in his effort to build popular support as his proposal for overhauling Social Security struggles to gain footing in Congress. At the same time, there has been an increase in respondents who say that efforts to restore order in Iraq are going well, even as an overwhelming number of Americans say Mr. Bush has no clear plan for getting out of Iraq.
On Social Security, 51 percent said permitting individuals to invest part of their Social Security taxes in private accounts, the centerpiece of Mr. Bush's plan, was a bad idea, even as a majority said they agreed with Mr. Bush that the program would become insolvent near the middle of the century if nothing was done. The number who thought private accounts were a bad idea jumped to 69 percent if respondents were told that the private accounts would result in a reduction in guaranteed benefits. And 45 percent said Mr. Bush's private account plan would actually weaken the economic underpinnings of the nation's retirement system.
In a sign of the political obstacles confronting the White House, a majority of those surveyed said they would support raising the amount of income subject to Social Security payroll tax above its current ceiling of $90,000, an idea floated by Mr. Bush but shot down by Republican Congressional leaders. Yet there is strong resistance to other options available to Mr. Bush and lawmakers to repair the system, in particular to raising the retirement age or making participation voluntary.
Notwithstanding Mr. Bush's argument that citizens should be given more control over their retirement savings, almost four out of five respondents said it was the government's responsibility to assure a decent standard of living for the elderly.
The poll was the first conducted by The Times and CBS News since the president's inauguration. It comes after six hectic weeks for the administration, in which Mr. Bush has witnessed successful elections in Iraq - which he hailed as validation of his decision to remove Saddam Hussein - but also the toughest period he has encountered on Capitol Hill, as he has struggled to win support for the signature proposal of his second term.
Other stuff from the poll:
- 53 per cent think things are going very or somewhat well in Iraq; that's up from 41 per cent a month ago. But on the whole, more people disapprove of his Iraq policy than approve (50-45; it was 55-40 a month ago).
- 42 per cent think North Korea should have been his priority, not Iraq -- although 45 per cent say he was right to focus on Iraq. While 81 per cent think NK has nukes (up from 70 per cent) and 70 per cent think it poses a threat to the United States, there's little appetite for pre-emptive military action.
- 58 per cent say the Bush White House doesn't share the foreign policy priorities of Americans.
- Interestingly 90 per cent think the federal debt is a big problem, and 60 per cent disapprove of how Bush is handling it.
- The debt concerns tie into the Social Security issue. But while people are wary of Bush's plan, they appear to be buying into his rationale that the system is going broke (66 per cent agree) and needs to be fixed now (55 per cent agree).
However, his overall approval rating remains at 49 per cent.