Public Opinion

58% say younger workers get a worse deal than today’s retirees; 71% back creating nonpartisan commission to fix Social Security’s shortfall.

A new Cato survey found that 81 percent of Americans say they can’t afford to pay higher taxes next year; 55 percent say they already pay more than their fair share in taxes; 53 percent say Congress should not let the tax cuts expire; and 59 percent favor repealing green energy subsidies to pay for permanent tax cuts.

This same poll found that 57% of Americans and 60% of Gen Z believe that America has strayed from its founding principles. That drift will likely accelerate if rising generations do not understand the historical experiences that helped Americans recognize the value of those principles.

Recent polling on Social Security from the Cato Institute in collaboration with YouGov offers some clues about how Americans are likely to respond to the newly released Social Security Trustee’s annual report showing the Trust Fund is now projected to be depleted sooner than previously expected.