Poll indicates Americans favor economically liberal policies

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

From a recent Bloomberg poll based on 1,000 interviews.

Here are some interesting finds. I will post my interpretation of these results in the next post.

• Reduce benefits for Medicare: 15% support/ 82% oppose
  
• Reduce benefits for Medicaid, which is government help for medical care for low-income people: 26% support/ 72% oppose
  
• Gradually raise the age of eligibility for Social Security to 69: 37% support/ 60% oppose
  
• Raise the amount of salary subject to Social Security tax beyond the current limit of about $107,000: 51% support/ 38% oppose
  
• Replace Medicare with a system in which government vouchers would help participants pay for their own health insurance: 35% support/ 58% oppose
  
• Eliminate tax cuts the wealthiest Americans have received in recent years: 59% support/ 38% oppose
  
• Begin means testing for Social Security and Medicare and reduce benefits for the wealthy: 67% support/ 27% oppose
  
• Impose a tax on Wall Street profits: 70% support/ 24% oppose

Here are some other really interesting results:

When it comes to Social Security, do you favor an approach that keeps the current system in place or an approach that would be a dramatic overhaul? (Alternated with next question every other interview.)

55% Keeps current system in place
38% Dramatic overhaul
7% Not sure

When it comes to Medicare, do you favor an approach that keeps the current system in place or an approach that would be a dramatic overhaul? (Alternated with previous question every other interview.)

50% Keeps current system in place
41% Dramatic overhaul
9% Not sure

The U.S. Congress is considering whether to renew most or all of the Bush tax cuts that expire at the end of December. In your view, what action would be best for the U.S. economy?

19% Extend the tax cuts permanently for all income levels
34% Extend the tax cuts permanently for the middle class but not for those earning $250,000 a year or more
16% Permanently extend the tax cuts for the middle class and extend for only two years the tax cuts for the highest income earners
27% Let all tax cuts expire as scheduled and return rates to previous levels to help cut the deficit
4% Not sure

If Congress decided to raise taxes only for those with the highest household income, should it be for those who earn more than $250,000, more than $500,000 or more than $1 million?

43% $250,000
28% $500,000
23% $1 million
6% Not sure

Which of the following do you see as the most important issue facing the country right now?

50% Unemployment and jobs

Are you better off or worse off than you were two years ago?

35% Better off
51% Worse off
14% Not Sure

Do you think now is the time for bold and fast change to bring down the federal deficit, even if it means more sacrifice for more people, or is it more important to minimize sacrifices for the American people?

40% Bold and fast change
51% More important to minimize sacrifice
9% Not sure

Other interesting results:

• Repeal the health care overhaul 55% support 40% oppose 5% not sure
• Create a national 6.5% sales tax with revenues specifically going to deficit reduction
  46% support: 49% oppose
• Pass a comprehensive immigration law 74% support 20% oppose 6% not sure
• Pass a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman 51% support 46% oppose 3% not sure
• Extend unemployment benefits to those who have been out of work longer than 99 weeks 58% support 39% oppose 3% not sure
• Cut taxes on corporations 31% support 65% oppose 4% not sure
• Cut taxes on individuals 60% support 35% oppose 5% not sure

Thinking forward to the election for president in 2012, do you think Barack Obama deserves to be reelected or deserves to be defeated?

42% Deserves to be re-elected
45% Deserves to be defeated
4% Depends on alternatives (VOL)
9% Not sure

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

The poll results indicate the following to me:

• The American people DO NOT support the purist conservative position on taxes on the rich and corporations, which calls the free market free and the money wealthy people make is their own. They DO NOT support the Tea Party, Club for Growth, Chamber of Congress, Jim DeMint, Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Rand Paul vision of economic policy. The American people believe that wealthy people out to be taxed at higher rates and that the middle and working classes and the poor ought to receive that money.
• The American people fundamentally are self-interested. They don't want communism, but they look to their own basic necessities of health and Social Security first. "Free markets" and flat taxes be damned. Get your hands off my Medicare and Social Security. Not only do they not want these programs cut, don't even think about reform. That is why they opposed Obama's health care overhaul. They incorrectly perceived it as taking away their Medicare. I spoke to one Democrat from Massachusetts who actually voted for Republican Scott Brown because of her misperception about this.
• The economy is issue #1 and a surprising majority of people see themselves as directly negatively impacted by the recession.
• Obama's support is low. They will stay low until the economy improves.
• The majority of Americans do not want the military to be cut due to budget problems.
• The American people are surprisingly open (split down the middle) to the idea of a national sales tax of 6.5% to pay down the budget deficit.
• Most Americans oppose the idea of redefining marriage.

[Random thinker]

It doesn't directly affect me because I'm not American nor living in America but this seems to put the lie to the more extreme right wing myths.

[Mike]

As an observer, Random Thinker, what do you perceive are the most prominent examples of right-wing American myths?

[chipper]

Doesn't the Nov. election, turning the house over to the Repubs, make a lie out of the poll?

I see polls indicating that the public comes down on the liberal side of most questions. But we keep sending these radical righties back to Washington. I think the electorate is too misinformed to know what they think. Those who bother to answer the polls are probably a minority of citizens and don't represent the voters.

Michele Bachman was reelected. WTF!

[Mike]

Doesn't the Nov. election, turning the house over to the Repubs, make a lie out of the poll?

Hahaha, fair question.

[discuss]

I am not surprised by the results of those polls. We have to look at how people vote. The Republicans have become so sophisticated at driving their messages that you can get an entire populist movement like the tea baggers (themselves brainwashed and supported by corporations) supporting people who are largely the cause of their woes. The American public is generally mis- and underinformed about politics. This comes as no surprise. I have to make a concerted effort to keep on top of the news, and I happen to have a real interest in politics- mainly brought on by all the crazy things that have been going on recently-so I stay informed. Most people don't have such inclinations. As the vehicles for maintaining an engaged citizenry don't exist in our society and in addition we are bombarded by media fluff and diversions on a daily basis, to be educated about what's going on requires real effort and thus very few follow, let alone understand politics in a meaningful way.

I'd also like to point out that if there were charismatic leaders for the left that could balance those on the right, we could have a progressive populist movement that would put into effect the policies that most Americans (as the poll indicates) want. An obvious example is the insanity of conducting war in Afghanistan, which only benefits the military-industrial complex. Most Americans are against the war but don't know how to put an end to it. The left needs to learn from the right how to manipulate the media to get strong messages to the public and mobilize people for change at the grassroots level.

[Mike]

... As the vehicles for maintaining an engaged citizenry don't exist in our society and in addition we are bombarded by media fluff and diversions on a daily basis, to be educated about what's going on requires real effort and thus very few follow, let alone understand politics in a meaningful way. ...

I'd also like to point out that if there were charismatic leaders for the left that could balance those on the right, we could have a progressive populist movement that would put into effect the policies that most Americans (as the poll indicates) want.

I think I disagree about the non-existence of the vehicles for maintaining and engaged citizenry. I think the vehicles are all there. I'm inclined to believe the problem has more to do with the average person trying to take care of the day-to-day issues of living combined with the tendency to fear change and out of fear opt for the status quo more often than not.

Give me some examples of the charismatic leaders you perceive representing the right. Wouldn't you say that Barack Obama possesses a certain degree of charisma and that fact weighed heavily in the minds of many who chose to vote for him?

[discuss]

I think you are right in a sense when you suggest that people are overwhelmed by the day-to-day stuff, but that's something that to a degree they allow. People tend to look for diversions so they don't have to face reality. This is what I was referring to. But it's everyone's civic responsibility to prioritize and be involved in whatever capacity they can.

By the leaders of the Right I mean those that influence the public. Glenn Beck, Sara Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News are only some of the most prominent of course. Obama, being President, is in a class by himself. What the Left needs is leaders for a populist movement. When such a movement develops momentum, the President and other political figures can step to the head of the line and lead the effort through what they do in Washington.

[Mike]

Another reason many people don't appear to get involved may have something to do with the old maxim against talking sports, religion, or politics. A lot of folks just don't dig the contention and the bad feelings that all too often ensue during political "discussions." Nevertheless many of these people have pretty intelligent points of view, they just keep 'em to themselves. That may be partially the fault of our education system. When I look back on my own education it was woefully short of instruction and opportunities to engage in civic dialogue.

Yes, I have a pretty low opinion of Beck, Limbaugh, et al. I suppose it could be argued that they serve some sort of purpose (few people are all bad or all good) but I think they do more harm than good when they make remarks like Limbaugh frequently telling us that he hopes President Obama fails. It's one thing to express disagreement. It's another to express hopes for personal failure. In fairness I also indict those I knew who lambasted President Bush in similar tones. The ones I'm referring to however are personal acquaintances who didn't have the ear of thousands of Americans.