White House balks at submitting Social Security plan
Thursday, February 17, 2005 at 01:21AM
TheSpook
The White House has told lawmakers it has no immediate plans to submit
its own detailed proposal to Congress for overhauling Social Security,
sources briefed by the administration said on Tuesday. President George
W. Bush has made adding private retirement accounts to the Social
Security system his top domestic priority. The proposal has run into
opposition from Democrats and some of Bush's fellow Republicans.
Bush bases his call for a broad overhaul of the 70-year-old Social
Security program on his contention it is headed into a financial
crisis, a characterization Democrats, and many in his own Republican
Party, say exaggerates the problem. Republican and Democratic
congressional aides said the White House made clear in briefings this
week it would not submit a legislative proposal, at least not for the
time being. Instead, the White House will try to coordinate efforts
with lawmakers crafting their own proposals. A senior Bush
administration official said no final decision had been made. "If there
comes a point when the president needs to spell out specific
legislation, he won't hesitate," the official said. A Democratic
congressional aide said the White House was "backsliding" in the face
of stiffer-than-expected opposition. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.