Poll: Mixed Views On SS Overhaul

President Bush's plan to revamp Social Security was given high marks by those who viewed his State of the Union address Wednesday night – at least until they learned that the proposal could mean a cut in their guaranteed benefits.

In a CBS News poll conducted immediately after Mr. Bush's speech, 56 percent of viewers said they supported the president's idea of allowing individuals to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal accounts – a jump of 12 percent from last week.

But when those who thought the plan was a good idea were asked if they would feel the same way if it meant their guaranteed benefits would be reduced, support slipped to 42 percent.

In his speech, Mr. Bush promised Americans 55 or older that their Social Security checks would not be touched. However, his plan would decrease government benefits for younger workers while giving them "a chance to build a nest egg" through personal accounts.

"For younger workers, the Social Security system has serious problems that will grow worse with time," the president said, arguing that the system will be paying out more than it takes in by 2018.

Without providing details, Mr. Bush said that under personal accounts, "Your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver and your account will provide money for retirement over and above the check you will receive from Social Security."

Some Democrats claim Mr. Bush has overstated the problems Social Security is facing and warn that his plan could reduce guaranteed government benefits for younger Americans by 40 percent.

"It's wrong to replace the guaranteed benefit that Americans have earned with a guaranteed benefit cut of 40 percent or more," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Wednesday.

While the president has made Social Security reform the top item on his second term agenda, the poll found other issues were of more pressing concern to viewers.

Given a list of proposals Mr. Bush outlined in his address and asked which should be enacted this year, 35 percent said simplifying the tax code, 22 percent said helping small businesses with health insurance, while 20 percent named Social Security.

The address did increase viewers' confidence that the president would make sure Social Security survives. After the speech, 65 percent said Mr. Bush was likely to do so, compared to 54 percent before the speech.

Overall, however, viewers doubted Mr. Bush would be able to achieve his goals. While eight in ten – a typical percentage historically for State of the Union watchers – said they approved of the president's proposals, nearly six in ten (59 percent) did not believe he will be able to make it all happen.

This CBS News Poll was conducted online by Knowledge Networks among a nationwide random sample of 839 State of the Union viewers. This is a scientifically representative poll of viewers' reaction to the speech. Knowledge Networks, a Silicon Valley company, conducted the poll among a sample of adult members of its household panel who said in recent days that they intended to watch the speech. The Knowledge Networks panel is a nationally representative sample given access to the Internet via Web TV. The margin of sampling error could be plus or minus four percentage points for the entire sample of speech watchers.

By Joel Roberts