Overhaul Might Not Happen in 2005, GOP Leaders Suggest

The top Republican leader in the Senate raised doubts Tuesday about whether he would be able to bring President Bush’s proposal to restructure Social Security to a vote this year, amid fresh evidence that public support for the plan remains tepid.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the pace of Social Security legislation in Congress would depend on “the rate, the rhythm, the sort of pulse of the American people.... In terms of whether it will be a week, a month, six months or a year as to when we bring something to the floor, it’s just too early.”

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) also sounded less than certain about whether the president’s plan could move through Congress this year.

DeLay, who called Social Security “the mother of all issues,” said at a news conference Tuesday that there was enough time to consider Social Security legislation this year. But in later comments he also injected a cautious note.

Asked whether a bill could pass this year, he said, “I hope so,” and “We’re shooting to get it done this year.”

The comments from Frist (R-Tenn.) came as lawmakers returned to Washington from a holiday recess, during which many Republicans held town hall meetings intended to promote Bush’s plan.

A number of GOP lawmakers, however, said those meetings showed a lack of support for the proposed changes, at least so far.

“We’re very much in the early stages of the legislative process,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday. “We’re very much in the early stages of the outreach to the American people. This is a process that has really just begun.”

After his reelection in November, Bush made a strong push for restructuring Social Security, making it the primary domestic issue of his new term. Failure to bring his proposal to a vote in the Republican-dominated Congress could be seen as a major defeat.

Frist maintained that he was encouraged by the Social Security debate.

“We’re going to have to continue doing what we’re doing, spending time engaging the American people, make sure that our political figures and representatives understand there’s a problem” in the finances of Social Security, he said. “And we’re making progress there.”

Under Bush’s still-emerging plan, workers under age 55 would be able to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into private stock and bond accounts that they would control. Bush says this would allow workers to build wealth and hold an “ownership” stake in their retirement.

Bush has also cast the accounts as part of a broader plan to shore up the shaky finances of the Social Security system. That plan might include benefit cuts or tax increases, though many Republicans have expressed opposition to any tax hike. Bush has said he might consider raising the income level subject to the Social Security tax above the existing $90,000 cap but has offered no specifics.

Democrats are all but united in opposing private accounts. They and other critics say the accounts would be expensive -- costing $1 trillion or more in new borrowing to implement -- while doing nothing to improve Social Security’s long-term funding shortfall. Many contend that it would make the long-term finances of the system worse, not better.

A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll published Tuesday reported a decline in support for the president on Social Security.

In the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, 35% of those surveyed approved Bush’s Social Security plan, down from 43% in the same survey three weeks earlier.

In the time between the two surveys, Bush has made several campaign-style road trips to promote his proposal. He is scheduled to travel again to talk about his plan Friday.

Business groups have said they are building war chests of tens of millions of dollars to run advertisements and take other actions in support of Bush’s proposal.

But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the poll results were not encouraging for Bush. And he told reporters: “The trips last week around the country by all of our senators has proven that the president’s message is not selling.”

Reid said that if public opinion started to turn in favor of Bush’s proposal to create investment accounts, “I would be the most surprised person in Washington.”

Associated Press was used in compiling this report.