Ryan Streeter
The Republican Panel is ConservativeHome’s weekly poll of active conservatives across America. More than two-thirds of respondents have given money or time to political candidates.
This week’s Republican Panel surveyed 1,066 individuals on 3 big issues facing the GOP and America: the Bush tax cuts, Social Security reform, and the leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Here's an overview of the results:
- Support for extending the Bush tax cuts for ALL income brackets – and not just the wealthy – is overwhelming: 86% of respondents hold this view. Clearly, grassroots conservatives favor equal treatment in the tax code when it comes to tax cuts.
- Support for private accounts in Social Security is also overwhelming, with 78% saying they believe people under 40 should be allowed to invest in private accounts rather than staying in the traditional program.
- A majority of conservatives believe that the Social Security retirement age should be raised for Americans under 40.
- And, finally, the largest share - 39% - of conservatives believe that Michael Steele should be replaced at the RNC. However, 25% of respondents have no opinion on the matter, suggesting real issues - such as taxes and Social Security - are more important to ordinary voters than the Washington political class.
The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. When asked their view of extending the cuts, here's how those polled responded:
- 86% said the Bush tax cuts should be extended for all income brackets
- 10% said the Bush tax cuts should be extended for everyone except those earning more than $1 million
- 4% said the Bush tax cuts should be extended for everyone except those earning more than $250,000
- 1% said the Bush tax cuts should expire at the end of the year
78% of respondents favor allowing people under the age of 40 to begin investing in private savings accounts instead of paying into the traditional Social Security program.
55% of respondents support raising the Social Security retirement age to 70 for everyone under 40 years of age, compared to the 29% who do not.
39% of respondents think that Michael Steele "has been a bad RNC chairman and should be replaced."
And finally, when asked whether they are fiscally conservative, socially conservative, both or neither, the majority said both:
- 58% said they are both fiscally and socially conservative
- 37% said they are more fiscally than socially conservative
- 3% said they are more socially than fiscally conservative
- 2% said they are neither
