Social Security & Medicare Notes

Katrina puts final nail in coffin of Social Security phase out

from Bloomberg Sept 15th.

Prospects that the U.S. Congress will pass an overhaul of Social Security this year have vanished, leaving Republicans to debate how best to walk away from the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's second-term domestic agenda.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate said a comprehensive proposal had no chance of being acted on this year, even though Republican leaders such as House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Representative Roy Blunt haven't publicly abandoned the effort.

There hasn't been much likelihood of it being brought up this year anyway, but the Republican leadership was looking for some way to do it anyway. Katrina pretty much kills it for this year.

With all the other things the Republicans have to answer for during the elections next year, there is similarly no chance it will be brought up again next year. They will be hoping that the voters don't remember their efforts this year.

``They have a basic problem that privatization was unwise and unpopular from the very beginning,'' he said. ``Now you have mismanagement in response to Katrina, so they'd be more out of step if they dismantled a foundation program.''

Polls have shown that almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Bush's private-accounts proposal.

Stephen Wayne, a government professor at Georgetown University in Washington, said Katrina had provided Republicans with ``an exit strategy'' from an unpopular proposal.

``The Republicans are using the hurricane as an excuse for not proceeding with the politically dicey Social Security legislation,'' he said. ``They can let it die a pleasant death'' by moving on to other initiatives and blaming Democrats for killing it.

Republicans lie, blame others and conduct government incompetently and corruptly. They cannot be trusted to fix any problems in Social Security.

posted by Richard @ 8:29 PM