These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
Voters Say Congress Should Ask Permission Before Changing Social Security, Raising Taxes
Friday, September 3, 2010
If Congress wants to change Social Security, 71% believe that any proposed changed should be submitted to a vote of the American people. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 21% disagree and 9% are not sure.
Sixty-one percent (61%) say Congress should be required to get voter approval before raising taxes. On this topic, 33% disagree and 6% are not sure.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly support requiring voter approval for both entitlement changes and tax hikes. Seventy percent (70%) of Democrats favor the concept for changes in Social Security, but only 52% of Democrats want voters to have the final say on tax hikes.
However, as is true on many topics, the gap between Mainstream Americans and the Political Class is bigger than the partisan divide.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Mainstream voters say that voter approval should be required for changes in Social Security. Seventy-two percent (72%) favor the requirement for tax hikes.
Among the Political Class, 60% oppose the requirement for approval of entitlement changes and 73% oppose it for tax hikes. (see more on the Political Class--Mainstream classification.)
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 29-30, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
The gap between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans is deep. Most in the Political Class believe that increases in government spending and deficits are good for the economy. Mainstream voters have the opposite view.
Data released earlier shows that 78% support having Congressional pay raises approved by voters . Seventy-five percent (75%) want Congress to cut its pay until the federal budget is balanced.
Requiring voter approval might be one way of restoring the consent of the governed to our federal government. Currently, just 23% believe the government has such consent . According to the Declaration of Independence, consent of the governed is the only legitimate source of authority for any government.
A new book by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen addresses the broader discontent roiling the political landscape this year. MAD AS HELL: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System , published by Harper-Collins, will be released September 14. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com , Barnes and Noble , Borders , and other outlets .
A Wall Street Journal profile calls Scott Rasmussen "America's Insurgent Pollster."
In a book released earlier this year, Scott observed that, "The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18th century." In Search of Self-Governance is available at Rasmussen Reports and Amazon.com .