A new poll by Money magazine (October) asked its readers, “What’s the single biggest way Washington could improve your finances?” The most popular answer among Democrats and second among Republicans was to “Preserve Social Security and Medicare in current form.” That pipe dream suggests many Money readers are close to 65 or older, since the young surely know it is impossible to keep paying current benefits for much longer without imposing brutal tax hikes on the rapidly dwindling portion of younger Americans still willing to work.
What was far more intriguing about the Money poll, however, is that the second or third most popular policy was to, “Raise interest rates so savers can earn more.” In fact, higher interest rates for savers was the single most important issue for 15% of both Democrats and Republicans, compared with only 10–11% who found “more jobs” most important. If the poll had been confined to seniors, that 15% figure might well have doubled.
The Wall Street Journal’s “Viewer’s Guide” to the first presidential debate (September 29–30) included the Federal Reserve as one of eight topics, noting that Romney has criticized the latest experiment with quantitative easing (monetizing debt) and suggested replacing Bernanke. But the article went on to imply that everyone, including “a top Romney adviser,” thinks of Ben Bernanke as an untouchable or even heroic figure. As a senior with a condo in Florida I can assure you that other Florida seniors (17.3% of the state’s population in 2010 and much larger share of voters) have a quite different opinion. They feel robbed, not helped, by the Fed.