Gallup on Bush-style SS scheme

[Max Sawicky]

Wrong question.   More relevant would be,
how do you feel about diverting payroll taxes
from the Social Security Trust Fund, thereby
causing it to go into deficit x years sooner,
and delaying pay-down of the national debt
by y years, for the sake of setting up personal
investment accounts.  This would not be my
critique of Dubya's proposal, but it will be
Gore's.

mbs

[from Gallup's weekly bulletin]

*	Bush on Social Security
GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush today announced his plan for
partial privatization of the Social Security system.  In an attempt to
increase investment returns and prevent bankruptcy of the trust fund in
2037, Bush's plan would allow workers to personally invest a portion of
their Social Security taxes in stock market accounts.   A Gallup survey
earlier this year found close to 2-to-1 public support for this general
concept. Sixty-two percent of Americans said they favored a proposal that
would "allow or require people to put a portion of their Social Security
payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts that would be invested in
private stocks and bonds," while just 33% opposed it. [January 13-16, 2000]
Governor Bush is clear that individual workers, but not the government, will
be allowed to invest Social Security funds in the stock market.  Indeed,
when Gallup asked about this two years ago, a sharp distinction in public
opinion was revealed: 66% favored individual investments, compared to only
38% who favored the government investing.  [July 13-14, 1998]