Another Social Security poll

The Washington Post, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University have conducted a new poll on Social Security, and once again the public fails to buy into the President's crisis rhetoric. Also of note, only 37% of those surveyed understand the huge costs associated with the plan.

The findings also suggest the battle over "private" vs. "personal" accounts may be a bit overblown:

Americans seem not to change their views when the president's plan is characterized as a "private" rather than a "personal" investment account -- a change from earlier studies, in which the use of "private accounts" or "privatization" drove down support. Either way, a modest majority favored the proposal, the survey found.

Far more sensitive was the characterization of the way a restructuring would include a provision to recalculate initial benefits for retirees. Opposition rose from 68 percent when this change was characterized as "reducing the rate of growth in benefits" to 86 percent when described as "cutting guaranteed benefits." Both phrases accurately describe what would happen.

As far as solutions go, the results mirrored the CNN poll showing 81% of Americans favor raising the tax cap (currently at $90,000), and 60% say the government should reduce benefits on the wealthy. Only 30% favor reducing benefits on all Americans, a likely outcome with the current Bush plan.