It sounds as if President George Bush is on real shaky ground now on his proposal to revamp Social Security — something that seemed to be shaping up as he skirted demands for details and has insisted on sticking to the large conceptual issue of what is wrong with the program.
The LA Times reports this:
President Bush’s push to transform Social Security is in trouble, despite intense salesmanship designed to build support in Congress and with the public.
Democrats are united against the president on the issue. A new national poll shows the idea is losing ground with taxpayers. Many Republicans in Congress remain hesitant to promote letting workers under 55 privately invest a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes.
Not a good sign. To shove the plan through if this holds would require strict party unity and no bumps along the way that damage GWG’s standing in the polls and Congressional clout…big requirements in any president’s second term. MORE:
And Thursday, Bush’s political challenge became more daunting as one of his key constituencies — economic conservatives — fumed at his new willingness to consider a tax increase to pay for the changes.
The president has called for a broad overhaul of Social Security, contending it will be bankrupt by mid-century. But the private accounts at the center of the overhaul come with a high transition cost — estimated at $1 trillion or more.
It seems as if there could be several consquences coming out of this battle.
- If Bush whips his party into shape and some kind of a plan emerges that is mostly the product of party power politics, it’ll increase polarization and undermine acceptance of any new plan.
- If he pushes it hard and fails, his political capital will be depleted.
- If he uses his unrelenting stance for reform as a catalyst for genuine political negotiation and compromise, his clout will increase.
But right now it appears as if he has his work cut out for him…in garnering solid support from either party.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.