Large majorities of Americans – including Democrats – agree that a strong economy is vital to the long-term health of Social Security and Medicare.
- A smaller majority – including a plurality of Democrats – agree that tax increases and burdensome regulations weaken the popular programs for seniors.
WHY IT MATTERS – President Joe Biden says protecting Medicare and Social Security is the centerpiece of his 2024 budget and has proposed raising taxes to stabilize the entitlement programs’ finances.
- These results suggest this message could backfire if voters perceive the tax increases as harmful to the economy, and thus harmful to Social Security and Medicare.
70 PERCENT AGREE: STRONG ECONOMY = STRONG SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE – An exclusive poll for America’s New Majority Project, conducted by Scott Rasmussen, asked Americans about the importance of a strong economy.
Social Security and Medicare are funded by payroll taxes that all workers pay. Knowing this, which do you believe is more important for the long-term stability of Social Security and Medicare: a strong and growing economy, or increasing tax rates that keep up with the programs’ demands?
- 70 percent – A strong and growing economy (81 percent GOP, 59 percent Democrat, 69 percent Other)
- 19 percent – Increasing tax rates that keep up with the programs’ demands (10 percent GOP, 30 percent Democrat, 17 percent Other)
- 11 percent – Not sure (9 percent GOP, 11 percent Democrat, 14 percent Other)
MESSAGING NOTE – The question reminds respondents that Social Security and Medicare are funded by payroll taxes, which all workers pay. Including this context is likely important in messaging.
63 PERCENT AGREE: LOWER TAXES AND CUT REGULATIONS TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY – The poll also asked respondents if they agreed that the best way to keep the programs solvent was to grow the economy with lower taxes and regulations.
Some people argue that the best way to ensure Social Security and Medicare remain solvent is to promote economic growth by lowering taxes and regulations. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
- 24 percent – Strongly agree (35 percent GOP, 14 percent Democrat, 19 percent Other)
- 39 percent – Somewhat agree (42 percent GOP, 35 percent Democrat, 40 percent Other)
- 16 percent – Somewhat disagree (10 percent GOP, 22 percent Democrat, 40 percent Other)
- 9 percent – Strongly disagree (2 percent GOP, 17 percent Democrat, 6 percent Other)
- 13 percent – Not sure (11 percent GOP, 12 percent Democrat, 22 percent Other)
60 PERCENT AGREE: HIGHER TAXES AND MORE REGULATIONS WEAKEN SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE – The poll also asked respondents about the impact of taxes and regulations on the health of the programs.
Some people argue that tax increases and burdensome regulations hurt economic growth, and that weakens Social Security and Medicare. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
- 22 percent – Strongly agree (33 percent GOP, 12 percent Democrat, 20 percent Other)
- 38 percent – Somewhat agree (39 percent GOP, 33 percent Democrat, 45 percent Other)
- 17 percent – Somewhat disagree (10 percent GOP, 26 percent Democrat, 12 percent Other)
- 8 percent – Strongly disagree (4 percent GOP, 14 percent Democrat, 5 percent Other)
- 15 percent – Not sure (14 percent GOP, 15 percent Democrat, 18 percent Other)
BOTTOM LINE – Biden and the Democrats think protecting Social Security and Medicare is their strength. It could become their Achilles heel if voters understand their tax increases and more regulations will weaken the long-term stability of the programs.
The survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on March 16-17, 2023 on behalf of America’s New Majority Project. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.