Bush Retirement Accounts Plan Dead -- Top Democrat (Reid says no votes!)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050202/us_nm/retirement_congress_dc_6

Bush Retirement Accounts Plan Dead -- Top Democrat

7 minutes ago U.S. National - Reuters

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the Senate on Tuesday predicted that President Bush (news - web sites)'s plan to revamp social security by diverting taxes into private investment accounts would fail to pass Congress.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid was speaking as Bush prepared to use his State of the Union address on Wednesday to argue for his proposals and then follow up with a five-state tour to campaign for the new investment accounts.

"President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security (news - web sites)," the Nevada Democrat said. "It will not happen. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are."

(snip)

Without Democratic support, the plan will fail to win the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles which can block any major piece of legislation in the 100-member Senate.

Reid said none of the 44 Democrats in the Senate would back a plan that diverts Social Security taxes into accounts that workers would invest in stocks and bonds. Opponents argue it would only add to Social Security's financial problems, force big cuts in benefits and add to ballooning budget deficits.


more:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050202/us_nm/retirement_congress_dc_6

WOO HOO!

It's late and I am tired-does this mean he is not getting his way?

I can't wait to see him throw his fit.

Lately it seems a lot of "predictions" haven't quite worked out as we would have liked. Don't get me wrong, it's very encouraging. But I'll reserve getting my hopes too high for now.

Now the commentators will be harping on it going into the speech coverage. And there's so many more important things to talk about and work on...

They are going to have a lot of rewriting to do.

I'm glad the Dem's are standing up on this one. I just hope they all get the memo.

... I'm willing to bet the Smirking Fascist will strut like the malignant narcissist he is and start smearing falsehoods up one side of Congress and down the other. This'll be interesting. He never let the facts get in his way yet - his wealthy investment banker cronies are in full salivate mode and won't let that $1.7 trillion escape their honey dippers without a struggle.

You're right there's no way he's going to let this go based on the truth. Why should he when his blatant lies have worked so well in the past? He will pimp his cause like a used car salesman pushing a 76 pinto.

Expect to hear more about his "success" in Iraq now. He's going to need to praise himself even more since he's facing a defeat on SS.

and this was the obvious one to pick.

seats.

Repubs are 4 away from getting past this hurdle.

one cuz DiFi isn't retiring. The rethugs will B after her w/ a vengence and the Dems R tired of this dino.

Do you have a list handy of both House and Senate seats? We really should start talking about this now. You're right!

..and don't wimp out again like they have on EVERY other bill, including the vote for war and then funding for it AFTER it was well known Bush lied. :eyes:

Sorry, I can't get excited about this until I see the results...no trust for the dems left, NONE.

other wise, we are all screwed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...otherwise, the Bushies will simply pass it on a party-line vote. And, after Condi the Liar and Alberto de Sade, why should we believe the Democrats even know what "filibuster" means?

:grr:

Don't kick back and relax. It's not dead until Bush stops campaigning for it. And there is always the danger that some Dems in the Senate will try to find "common ground" and reach a compromise agreement on investing social security funds in the stock market. Bush may believe he can't get his entire proposal pass and
will just try to get his foot in the door with a "bi-partisan compromise" agreement as this moves forward. That's what we really have to look out for.

President Clinton advocated a social security stock market "investment" plan in his 1999 State of the Union address. Don't forget that!

I know a lot of people around here think the fix is in and all of that but I think this could be the beginning of a very bad term for Bush. Once he loses something really big like this, this early in the second term, the shine is off. His 4-year honeymoon is over; his approval ratings are low; our boys and girls are dying in Iraq; the dollar is dropping; the deficit is ballooning; and all of the people who just couldn't handle the idea of gay marriage but are turned off by social conservative excesses are kind of scratching their heads, figuring out when to jump ship.

Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72