Bush Returns to His Call to Fix Social Security

President Bush took his campaign to restructure Social Security back on the road Thursday, urging audiences in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to help him persuade Congress to swiftly enact fundamental changes to the New Deal retirement program.

But despite his heavy emphasis on the issue in the weeks since his reelection, Bush said the time was not yet ripe to begin debating solutions to the program’s projected financing gap.

“It’s going to take me a while to convince people of the urgency to ... act,” the president said. “I need to spend more time convincing people that ... we got the problem.”

Bush’s trip followed a two-day, five-state tour last week to build public support for his proposal to allow workers to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into private accounts.

In Raleigh, Bush again acknowledged that the “personal accounts alone won’t permanently solve the problem” of Social Security’s long-term funding shortfall. But he revealed no new details on how he would solve the matter. The president’s reluctance to describe how he would restructure Social Security beyond worker-owned investment accounts reflects his conviction that it is strategically unwise to put forth a detailed proposal before he has persuaded the public that the program’s underlying financing system requires an immediate and fundamental fix.

A new poll published on Thursday underscored the reality that Bush has some distance to go in making his case.

A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation-Harvard University survey found that seven out of 10 Americans agreed with the president that Social Security eventually will go bankrupt unless changes are made. And many said they were not willing to either pay higher payroll taxes or reduce their benefits in order to fix the problem.

“While 56% said they support a plan for individual investment accounts, more than half of those said they would be less likely to do so after hearing the [cost] estimate. More than four in 10 supporters wavered when they heard that personal accounts would not, by themselves, reduce the financial problems facing Social Security,” the Post said.

Bush made a blatant appeal to lawmakers who are worried about taking on the politically sensitive issue: “I believe that candidates are rewarded -- not punished -- for taking on tough issues. I say that to give assurance to the members of Congress who may feel somewhat fearful of taking on the issue.”

Bush added: “What I’m saying to the members of Congress, we’re all in this deal together. We’re all going to ... be blamed together or we’re going to be praised together.”

If the problem goes unsolved, Bush warned, “you’re looking at either major tax increases, major cuts in benefits, major cuts in other government programs or massive debt. And so now is the time to move.”

Bush reiterated that he would be willing to consider all options to shore up Social Security, with the exception of raising taxes.

As usual for a Bush appearance, the audiences on Thursday were carefully screened, and all appeared to be Bush supporters.

In Raleigh, when a local politician lauded the president for emphasizing his religious faith, the audience of several thousand broke into applause and leapt to its feet.

Before returning to the White House on Thursday night, the president also took his case for changing Social Security to Blue Bell, Pa., near Philadelphia.