Contact: Paul Greeley
American Chamber of Commerce Executives
(703) 998-3553
Jim Haynes
Behavior Research Center
(602) 258-4554
USE SURPLUS TO STABILIZE SOCIAL SECURITY,
CHAMBER LEADERS SAY
Alexandria, VA, June 16, 2000. Top Chamber officials around the country favor using the Federal budget surplus to stabilize and fund the Social Security and Medicare programs, according to the most recent poll of chamber of commerce officials. Almost two-thirds believe Social Security and Medicare should be fully funded, and only after that is accomplished, the balance of the surplus should be used to pay down the national debt.
Two in ten chamber chief executive officers believe taxes should be reduced to eliminate the surplus, while just over one in ten say the entire surplus should go toward paying off the national debt. Four percent favor using the surplus to rebuild America's national defense capabilities.
"These findings indicate the depth of the concern among America's business leaders with the health of the national retirement and retirement-age health care systems," said Earl de Berge, Research Director of Behavior Research Center, which conducted the poll. "Given the sensitivity of the business community toward taxes, we suspect many of the chamber executives fear the business community will bear the brunt of any new taxes needed in the future to shore up these programs."
USE SURPLUS TO STABILIZE SOCIAL SECURITY
Chamber leaders also display increasing concern with the prospects for rising inflation, with over seven in ten now expecting an increase in the inflation rate in the next six months, compared with fewer than six in ten expecting an inflation increase in the last quarterly poll. Only three in ten expect inflation to remain constant or to decrease in the next six months.
"Our members know only too well the effects of high inflation on the economy and the economic health of the cities and towns they represent," said Paul Greeley, CAE, President of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), the poll's sponsor. "I am not surprised that they are wary and even a bit fearful of the apparent trends."
These findings are from the most recent quarterly ACCE/BRC BusinessTRACKTM Poll, a study of Chamber of Commerce chief executive officers sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, a national association based in Alexandria, VA, and the Behavior Research Center, a national marketing and public opinion research firm based in Phoenix, AZ. The study was conducted electronically and had a response rate of 40 percent.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This report is based on an e-mail survey of CEO members of ACCE across the country and accurately reflects their distribution by state and region. A total of 233 responded, a 40 percent response rate. Data was collected during April, 2000, through the Behavior Research Center E-Mail Survey Division in Phoenix, Arizona.
This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
ENCLOSED: Statistical tables.
USE SURPLUS TO STABILIZE SOCIAL SECURITY
STATISTICAL DATA
"Many project that the Federal government will run a budget surplus of several trillion dollars over the next few years. Which of the following comes closest to representing your views on how the surplus should be used?"
Total
Social Security and Medicarefunded, then pay down debt 64%
Reduce taxes 20
Pay down debt 12
Rebuild national defense 4"During the next six months, do you expect the rate of inflation in the United States to increase, remain the same or decrease?"
First Qtr.2000 Fourth Qtr.1999
Increase a lot 3% 3%
Increase a little 68 54
Stay the same 26 43
Decrease a little 3 0
Decrease a lot 0 0
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