Blacks Give Social Security Plan Chilly Reception

The Politics

One of the interesting findings in the brilliant corners poll was that the already high opposition among African Americans to Bush's Social Security proposal increased as people were given more details about it. The question about whether people "generally" supported Bush's plan drew 75 percent opposition.

But when asked this way, opposition jumped to 84 percent: "Well, as you know, Bush's plan calls for allowing individuals to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes on their own in the stock market, which could mean higher benefits if the market goes up or lower benefits if the market goes down.

"It would also mean that the amount of guaranteed benefits that people receive would be cut for all Social Security recipients -- including retirees, the disabled, and the children of the deceased and disabled. Now that you have heard a little more about it, generally speaking do you favor or oppose Bush's Social Security plan?"

In the Post/ABC poll, opposition to partial privatization was 51 percent. Or, to compare numbers to another nonpartisan poll, the Pew Research Center in February found 82 percent of African Americans opposed the president's handling of Social Security. Also, 36 percent of Pew respondents said they supported private accounts, while 49 percent said they opposed them.

Either way, the percentage of African Americans opposed to Bush's plan is higher than that of the general population, suggesting that the administration has a tough hurdle to jump. This debate is important, however, because the GOP recognizes the need to expand its base in order to solidify its majority.

But for now, black voters' opposition appears based on a basic mistrust of the GOP, which they believe has historically not had their best interests at heart.

Rockeymoore put it this way: "After all, these are the people who have spent the last four years providing tax relief for the wealthiest Americans while laying the groundwork for dismantling the very programs that have helped blacks mitigate the effects of centuries of deprivation.

"Among the health and wealth creation vehicles on the President's chopping block are Affirmative Action, Perkins loans, Community Development Block Grants, empowerment and enterprise zones, Section 8 and Hope VI federal housing subsidies, minority health disparities research, and Medicaid. Each of these policies have been important for elevating the socio-economic condition of African Americans in the post-Civil Rights era, yet they have been challenged, seriously curtailed, or eliminated under the Bush Administration."

Wall and others see this as pure liberal demagoguery. Wall says not doing anything and leaving the status quo in place is akin to a benefit cut -- by as much as 30 percent in years to come -- as the proportion of retirees to people paying into the system continues to decrease. At least Bush is making an effort to address the problems in the system, according to Wall, while the Democrats sit around and just say "no."

"Yes we still have a challenge in delivering our [Social Security] message, and that's because the Democrats have done a good job of misinforming black people on this subject," she said.

Addendum

One interesting side note: Conservatives have been critical of the media for reporting opposition to Bush's Social Security plan based on overly broad poll questions that ask whether people "approve of the president's handling" of the issue. Most of those polls have shown clear majorities opposed to the president's handling of Social Security.

"The major media outlets have based most of their headlines and stories on their own polling data," wrote Herman Cain, a prominent black Georgia businessman and conservative who served as co-chairman of Steve Forbes's 2000 presidential campaign. "The skunk in the polls is that most media outlets are predetermining the results of their polls by asking the wrong questions," Cain says. "They then distort their stories to indicate that the public opposes personal retirement accounts. The question pollsters ask to determine support for personal retirement accounts rarely focuses on the accounts, but rather on the president himself and his handling of Social Security."

Cain argues that the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of April 26, which asks "do you think people under age 55 should have the right to choose between keeping all of their contributions in the current system and investing a portion of their contributions?" is more appropriate to the question of support. And nearly four of five respondents in that survey (79 percent) answered "Yes, people should have the right to choose."

But in fact, other media outlets have asked specific questions. For instance an April 19 CBS poll posed this question: "Some people have suggested allowing individuals to invest portions of their Social Security taxes on their own, which might allow them to make more money for their retirement, but would involve greater risk. Do you think allowing individuals to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes on their own is a good idea or a bad idea?"

In that poll, 45 percent said it was a good idea and 49 percent a bad idea.