|
The Harris Poll® #9, January 27, 2005
Social Security and Energy Reform are the Public’s Top
Agenda Items for the New Congress to Consider, According to The Harris Poll
As President Bush prepares for his annual State of the Union address on
February 2, he may be happy to hear that the American public strongly supports
Social Security and energy policy reforms.
When a recent Harris Poll asked U.S. adults about energy reform as a
potential agenda item for the new Congress to consider, a strong majority (91%)
said they would support reform to emphasize more conservation by consumers and
to encourage more innovation by energy producers for alternative sources for
energy, with over half (52%) strongly supporting this idea. Furthermore, with
regard to Social Security, the poll showed a substantial majority (89%) supports
reforms to ensure the Social Security fund has enough money to provide benefits
for the next 50 years; well over half (60%) strongly support this congressional
agenda item.
These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,209 U.S. adults
surveyed online by Harris Interactive® between January 11 and 16,
2005.
Public attitudes found in the survey toward other potential reform issues
are:
- Just under six in ten (58%) adults would at least somewhat support the
White House plan that would reform Social Security by allowing individual
investments of Social Security taxes in the stock or bond market. Only one
quarter (24%) strongly opposes this potential reform.
- Interestingly, only slightly more than half (53%) at least somewhat
support (26% strongly support) energy reform that would allow companies to
drill for oil in such areas as the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
which is the proposal President Bush and Republicans in Congress desire. In
fact, just less than one-third (30%) of the public strongly opposes the idea
of energy reform that allows drilling.
- When asked about tax reform to tax wealthier individuals more,
three-quarters (75%) of the public support this idea. While somewhat fewer
(69%) support the White House position on tax reform to make the recent tax
cuts permanent, these percentages still show fairly strong support for each
of these proposed enactments to the tax code.
- On immigration reform, just under three quarters (73%) support (47%
"strongly" support) making it more difficult for immigrants to
enter the U.S. and stay for a prolonged period of time. Further, half (52%)
support (13% "strongly" support) allowing some immigrants to stay
in U.S. to work in jobs U.S. citizens may not want.
- Seventy percent (70%) support (23% "strongly" support) legal
reform to ensure that judges and juries are allowed to decide the amount
awarded in malpractice and product-liability lawsuits. Somewhat fewer adults
(61%) support (24% "strongly" support) reform to limit lawsuits
against doctors and manufacturers.
Who leads Congress?
The U.S. House of Representatives is entering into the second decade of
Republican control and the the U.S. Senate continues to be dominated by
Republicans. The survey shows that over two-thirds of adults know that
Republicans will control the House (68%) and the Senate (68%) for the upcoming
year. However, slightly over one quarter say they are "not sure" who
will control the House (26%) and who will control the Senate (27%).
When it comes to Republican control of both Congress and the White House, the
public seems to have mixed feelings. When asked if it is good or bad for the
country to have a president and congressional majority of different parties,
half of the public (51%) said that it was good and 22 percent said it was bad.
Not surprisingly, Democrats are a little more likely (57%) to say divided
government is a good thing as compared to Republicans (43%), but Independents
are most likely (59%) to say it is a good thing to have differing parties in
control. Overall, the public seems to desire divided government. Maybe this is
the first forecast for the 2006 mid-term elections?
TABLE 1
Support or Opposition for New Congress agenda items
"How much would you support or oppose the following items
that might be on the agenda of the new Congress?"
Base: All Adults
| |
Support (NET) |
Strongly Support |
Somewhat Support |
Oppose (NET) |
Somewhat Oppose |
Strongly Oppose |
| |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Energy reform to emphasize more conservation by consumers and to
encourage more innovation by energy producers for alternative sources of
energy |
91 |
52 |
38 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
|
Social Security reform to ensure the Social Security fund has enough
money to provide benefits for all Americans for the next 50 years |
89 |
60 |
29 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
|
Tax reform to enact higher taxes on wealthy individuals in an effort
to bring down the federal deficit |
75 |
43 |
32 |
25 |
13 |
12 |
|
Immigration reform to make it more difficult for immigrants to enter
the U.S. and to stay in the U.S. for a prolonged length of time |
73 |
47 |
26 |
27 |
20 |
7 |
|
Tort reform to ensure judges and juries are allowed to decide the
amount awarded in malpractice or product-liability lawsuits |
70 |
23 |
47 |
30 |
19 |
11 |
|
Tax reform to make the recent tax cuts a permanent measure |
69 |
33 |
36 |
31 |
14 |
17 |
|
Tort reform to limit lawsuits against doctors and manufacturers |
61 |
28 |
33 |
39 |
23 |
16 |
|
Social Security reform to allow workers to invest part of their
Social Security taxes in the stock or bond market |
58 |
24 |
34 |
42 |
18 |
24 |
|
Energy reform to allow companies the ability to drill for oil in
certain areas such as the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to
decrease our reliance on foreign oil |
53 |
26 |
27 |
47 |
17 |
30 |
|
Immigration reform to allow some immigrants the ability to stay in
the U.S. to work in jobs U.S. citizens do not want |
52 |
13 |
39 |
48 |
27 |
21 |
TABLE 2
New Congress agenda – By Party
"How much would you support or oppose the following items
that might be on the agenda of the new Congress?"
Base: All Adults
| |
Support (NET) |
Oppose (NET) |
| |
Repub. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
Repub. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
| |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Energy reform to emphasize more conservation by consumers and to
encourage more innovation by energy producers for alternative sources of
energy |
89 |
91 |
93 |
11 |
9 |
7 |
|
Social Security reform to ensure the Social Security fund has enough
money to provide benefits for all Americans for the next 50 years |
93 |
86 |
91 |
7 |
14 |
9 |
|
Social Security reform to allow workers to invest part of their Social
Security taxes in the stock or bond market |
78 |
44 |
54 |
22 |
56 |
46 |
|
Energy reform to allow companies the ability to drill for oil in
certain areas such as the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to
decrease our reliance on foreign oil |
80 |
41 |
42 |
20 |
59 |
58 |
TABLE 3
Which Political Party Controls Congress?
"Do you know which party will be controlling the U.S.
House of Representatives for the upcoming year?"
"Do you know which party will be controlling the U.S.
Senate for the upcoming year?"
Base: All Adults
| |
U.S. House |
U.S. Senate |
| |
% |
% |
|
Republicans |
68 |
68 |
|
Democrats |
6 |
5 |
|
Not sure |
26 |
27 |
TABLE 4
Divided Government; good or bad thing?
"Overall, do you think it is good or bad for the country
to have a president and a majority in Congress belonging to different
parties?"
Base: All Adults
| |
Total |
Republicans |
Democrats |
Independents |
| |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Good |
51 |
43 |
57 |
59 |
|
Bad |
22 |
28 |
25 |
17 |
|
Not Sure |
27 |
30 |
19 |
23 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Methodology
The Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United
States between January 11 and 16, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 2,209
adults aged 18 and over. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and
household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with
their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also
used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95
percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2
percentage points. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of
error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical
calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed
(non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is
impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This
online sample is not a probability sample.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.
J23069
Q700, Q705, Q710, Q715
| 
Print
