A Reason to Be Optimistic

A Reason/Rupe Poll (yes, that is why I choose the title for this article -- pun intended) last September showed some very encouraging data about our generation (18-29 year-olds).  The highlights:

• About 86% favor a "spending cap that prevents it from spending more than it takes in during a given year"
• Roughly 74% favor a "constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget"
• 38% favor a decrease in spending with no tax increases as the "best way to reduce the national debt," which is the larger than any group supporting tax increases
• These young people "overwhelmingly support allowing workers to opt out of Social Security and Medicare at 64 percent and 65 percent, respectively"
• 38% do not believe they will receive any Social Security benefits when they retire and 44% believe the same is true for Medicare benefits, which "may in part explain their openness to reforming the programs"
• 62% are open to supporting an independent or third party candidate in 2012