Questions - Deficit Reduction Commission - November 30-December 1, 2010

National Survey of 1,000 Adults
Conducted November 30-December 1, 2010

By Rasmussen Reports

1* How closely have you followed recent news stories about President Obama’s bipartisan deficit reduction commission?

2* The current full retirement age for Social Security is 66. A proposal has been made to gradually raise the age so that younger workers would receive full benefits at 70. Those retiring in the next decade would not see any change. Do you favor or oppose raising the age that younger workers receive full Social Security retirement benefits to 70?

3* Currently, people pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 workers earn each year. People who make more than that do not pay Social Security taxes on salary and wages above that level. Should Social Security taxes be paid on all or most of the income workers earn each year?

4* Another of the proposals before the commission is to limit the size of the income tax deduction homeowners can take on interest they pay on their home mortgages. Do you favor or oppose limiting the income tax deduction a homeowner can take only to the first $500,000 of any home mortgage?

5* Another alternative would be to limit the mortgage income tax deduction to the size of the average home mortgage. This would allow people who own an average home to fully deduct their mortgage but those who buy more expensive homes would only be able to deduct a portion of their mortgage payments. Would you favor or oppose   limiting the mortgage income tax deduction to the size of the average home mortgage?

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence