Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos. 1/20-23. Registered voters. MoE 3.1% (No trend lines)

Currently, workers pay social security payroll taxes on up to $106,800 of their salary. To ensure the long-term viability of Social Security, would you rather have people pay social security taxes on salaries above $106,800, or would you rather see benefits cut and the retirement age increased to age 69? Raise

payroll cap Cut benefits All 77 10 Dem 84 4

GOP 69 17

Ind 77 11 Tea Party 67 20 18-29 80 0

30-45 69 17

46-65 82 8

65+ 75 13 $0-30K 79 5

$30-50K 75 11

$50-75K 79 7

$75-100K 78 13

$100K+ 72 18

The numbers above are stark. The largest proponents of cutting benefits are the Tea Party folks, and just 20 percent of them opt for the austerity solution. Even among those most affected -- people making over $100,000 per year -- only 18 percent opt for benefits cuts rather than raising the payroll tax cap. And for those least affected -- the youngest cohort -- the poll couldn't pick up any support for cutting benefits.

Yet outside of the punditry, the DC political class, and a tiny fringe, no one wants benefits cuts.

Democrats could be scoring mad political points by going on the offensive, vowing to defend Social Security against all enemies, and fighting to equalize the program's tax burden. (I wouldn't just raise the cap on payroll taxes entirely, but I'd also use the increased revenues to lower payroll taxes on the low and middle classes and/or lower the retirement age.)

But no, raising the cap is off limits, and the entire political establishment is focused on delivering more pain to seniors.

There's no better illustration of how DC is broken than this.