Pew has a new report out today about the values and policy opinions of Trump and Harris voters. As you'd expect, they disagree widely on everything. Except for Social Security:
Nobody—not Democrats, not Republicans, not independents—wants Social Security touched even slightly. It's still the third rail of American politics.
Mess with FDR's masterpiece at your peril.
Perhaps instead of continuing the “third rail of American politics” meme, we should begin to refer to it as “the island of stability in the sea of turmoil and discontent.”
Alternatively, though, maybe we could convince our Republican candidates to run on a “Repeal Socialist Security” platform. I wonder how that would work out for them!
I think rethuglican objections to aid programs are that "Those People" undeservedly would be helped.
Social Security is a proxy for programs that provide security against catastrophic situations in old age and in ill health. I will never understand the animosity that Obamacare generated and universal health care still does.
That's easy. It's because they provide security against catastrophic situations in old age and in ill health. Only wealthy people should have that. Everyone else can just die, already.
Hmm. of those 5 questions, how many concern an existing government program that affects a majority of Americans at some point in their lives?
Only one, and that's the one Republicans and Democrats are both in favor of. Republicans are against "big government" when it's abstract or helping people other than themselves, but they love big government when it is putting money in *their* pocket.
Don't breathe easy.
The GOP will use their GoTo strategy "Starve the Beast" to get cuts in Medicare & SSA. They never raise taxes, always cut them and never (ever!) cut the military budget.
What's left?
Democrats are nuts not to take this issue of the table next time they have a Trifecta. I took the liberty of asking AI to draw up a statute just for that purpose:
The above obviously doesn't deal with any long term strucutural issues related to the country's fiscal big picture. But it would take away the "automatic cuts when the trust fund runs out" cudgel from the GOP. Democrats ignore this danger at the program's peril. And sure, Congress can't bind a future Congress, but I'd be totally down for daring Republicans to repeal this bill.
Did you try to forward this to your congress persons?
I should. Maybe my Senator (E. Warren).
What I see is some consensus in favor of social programs, particularly when not described in vague terms
These survey questions are extremely sensitive to how you word them.
Government aid to the poor does more harm than good.
Government should help the poor to obtain basic necessities like food and medical care.
Even MAGA types would favor the latter.
Socialism? Boo...hiss.
Social Security? It's amazing I love it. Keep your government hands off of it.
A good 50% of the population are fucking morons.
I always thought this writer did a great job in articulating our hypocrisy
(reprinted with his permission)
After Tuesday, we know what voters want
Baltimore Sun • Nov 02, 2010 at 12:00 am
After devoting long minutes to careful analysis of Tuesday night's election returns, I now know what Americans want:
We want roads and bridges that are always in good condition but do not require tax money for upkeep.
We want world class schools with teachers who are so dedicated that they will work for minimum wage. (Note: the best one should be in my neighborhood)
We want 60-inch plasma TVs that cost $200 and are produced by workers in Ohio making at least $30 per hour.
We want our military to win every war, every heart and every mind, everywhere, at no cost in lives or money.
We want cheap, clean, efficient mass transit that goes through someone else's neighborhood.
We want "clean" coal and domestic crude that does not produce pollution or require digging or drilling.
We want SUVs that get 100 miles per gallon and produce jobs in Detroit.
We want Social Security benefits to go up and Social Security taxes to go down.
We want cheap labor from legal citizens who don't mind living in poverty.
We want clean drinking water and pristine parks and the right to dump anything, anywhere.
We want colleges that are inexpensive and not too hard but produce world class leaders.
We want football where every hit is brutal but no one gets hurt and baseball where everyone hits 40 home runs but no one uses steroids.
We want government to deliver all these things — then cut taxes and then cut taxes some more.
Mostly, we want what we want, and we want it now.
Personally, I want leaders who will tell us frankly that all these things are not possible, that the blessings of infrastructure and education given us by our fathers are wearing out. I want thinkers who can paint a picture of a greater America that could exist in 50 or 100 years, and then unite us with a roadmap to get there. I want America to have a shared vision and an understanding that we all benefit when we all contribute, and that we all suffer when we demand only for ourselves. I want leaders who will tell the truth: that there is no free lunch.
But then, I also want the World Series to end in early October, yet I know that some things are just too grand to even wish for.
Mac Nachlas, Baltimore
And if you ask them they'll insist that they don't benefit from any government programs. Unlike "those people".
Even Ayn Rand took Social Security benefits.
Most of what Ayn Rand wrote is fiction.
I look forward to the day when we can stop talking about Ayn Rand. Anybody who proclaims that things like public libraries and fire departments are "collectivism" that leads inevitably to "a world of bloody ruins and concentration camps" is a loon not worth regarding.
Really bad fiction. As appalling as her philosophy is, her prose is much worse.
"Government aid to the poor does more harm than good." I can say with some assurance that without SSI many Trump supporters would be destitute . SSI to some extent is aid to the poor. I guess Trump supporters don't think of themselves as poor.
This surprises me a bit. I feel like most conservatives I have talked to about this are in favor of cutting or privatizing social security. They also are a bit younger (30s/40s) and tend to think it will run out of money before they get any.
I'd be interested to see how this breaks out by age. I don't think younger conservatives are as supportive of SSA as this would suggest.
I strongly suspect that the bigger distinction is in class. If, like most people who read this blog, you mostly talk with middle and upper middle class people, you're going to get a distorted view of how people about this, and a whole lot of other issues.
ask the question in a place like the villages in florida. these are older folk who have done fairly well in life, financially secure though perhaps not rich, politically conservative by and large. you won't hear many calls for cutting social security. it's something they've "earned" they tell themselves, so it's not a government handout.