Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem

[Better Believe It]

Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem
By Jon Cohen and Dan Balz
April 20, 2011

The two sides are far apart philosophically, and neither enjoys great public confidence: Fifty-eight percent of those polled disapprove of the way the president is handling the budget deficit. Even more — 64 percent — give Republicans in Congress low marks.

The Post-ABC poll finds that 78 percent oppose cutting spending on Medicare as a way to chip away at the debt. On Medicaid — the government insurance program for the poor — 69 percent disapprove of cuts.

In his speech last week, the president renewed his call to raise tax rates on family income over $250,000, and he appears to hold the high ground politically, according to the poll. At this point, 72 percent support raising taxes along those lines, with 54 percent strongly backing this approach. The proposal enjoys the support of majorities of Democrats (91 percent), independents (68 percent) and Republicans (54 percent). Only among people with annual incomes greater than $100,000 does less than a majority “strongly support” such tax increases.

There is broad support for keeping Medicare structured the way it has been since it was instituted in 1965: as a defined-benefit health insurance program. Just 34 percent of Americans say Medicare should be changed along the lines outlined in the Ryan budget proposal, shifting it away from a defined-benefit plan. Under that proposal, recipients would select from a group of insurance plans providing guaranteed coverage, and the government would provide a payment to the insurer, subsidizing the cost. Advocates say this approach is more sophisticated than a pure voucher plan.

Read the full article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html

[Demit]

1. 78% of Americans haven't gotten John Boehner's memo on what the American people really want!

Silly things!

The Republicans want to take Medicare, a program with low overhead & administrative costs, something like 3%, and turn it into a way to funnel even MORE money to private insurance companies, some of which have overhead as high as 30%. I don't think the blatant money grab will be such a 'sophisticated approach' that people won't grasp the import of that.