Of course, that's complete nonsense. The worst that could be said about Social Security is that it might - emphasize might, as it depends on future economic performance - need some minor tinkering to meet currently-promised benefits.
But if that's the bad news, here's the good news: Based on the same report, Americans have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done: The wealthy should pick up the slack.
More than two-thirds of 1,010 adults contacted from Friday to Sunday said it would be a good idea to limit benefits for wealthier retirees and for higher income workers to pay Social Security taxes on all their wages.I've been saying all along that what the rightists want to do is create a sense of panic where the only issue becomes what sort of drastic change is to be made rather than if such change is needed at all. What's particularly interesting here is that based on this poll, pushing the panic button seems to be having an effect but it's not translating into the results the Bushites want. Happily, undermining Social Security may prove to be a harder sell than even the Shrub team thought.
Currently, the cap on wages taxed for Social Security is set at $90,000.
Other options to change Social Security fell far behind - 40 percent of respondents said reducing benefits for early retirement is a good idea; 37 percent said increasing the tax for all workers would be a good idea; 35 percent said the government should increase the age at which people could receive full benefits; and 29 percent said reducing benefits for people under 55 was acceptable. ...
About 55 percent of respondents thought Bush's proposal that would allow wage earners to invest some of their Social Security taxes in private investment accounts in the future is a "bad idea" - the same percentage as a month ago before the president began his campaign for the plan.
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