The People’s Money
A Book Review by Dick Morris of Scott Rasmussen’s new book, “The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt“.
In my work with President Clinton, I was always careful to take full account of polling data in helping him to formulate his policies, budget, and speeches. Some accused us of governing by polls. To some extent, they were right. We did take account of polling, but more as a way to accomplish the changes the president wanted than as a substitute for policy.
Now, pollster Scott Rasmussen has written a book for today’s voter that is remarkably similar to the memos I would send to the president for his consideration in the development of government policy. We are awash in books that tell us what we should do to balance the budget, eliminate the deficit, fully fund Social Security, and reduce the cost of Medicare. But this is the first published work to tell us what the voters want their representatives to do to accomplish these goals.
Rasmussen’s book should be at the bedside – or on the desk – of every Congressman, Senator, or executive department official. It is a ready reference guide to what voters want and what they won’t tolerate.
For example, he says that voters would like to have the option of lower Social Security taxes on current income in return for a later retirement date. He notes that Americans want limitation on Med Mal lawsuits, competition among insurance companies, more flexibility in deciding what kind of insurance they want, and greater free market competition to reduce the cost of Medicare.
By offering voters rational alternatives in his survey research, Rasmussen makes an important contribution to our political dialogue. Published polling data too often skirts the key issues or is reported episodically so that we cannot synthesize voter opinions into programmatic solutions. As a result, politicians often despair of making changes and worry that voters just don’t understand the reality of the problems we face.
But Rasmussen’s book makes it clear that they do understand and have given considerable thought to what changes would work. By presenting all the data about defense spending or Social Security or Medicare in separate chapters, he is able to offer realistic solutions to our most pressing problems – realistic both financially and politically.
Rasmussen’s book is as valuable as a guide to governing as my polling memos were to President Clinton. But, at a purchase price of $26, you can get the input a lot more cheaply!
To purchase a copy of “The People’s Money” – Go Here.
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