RNC Poll says Bush losing on Soc Sec carve out idea -GOP only to meet 1/28

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36396-2005Jan25.html

Bush Seeks to Allay GOP Doubts
Lawmakers Urged to Be Patient on Social Security Changes
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 26, 2005; Page A04


President Bush pleaded for patience yesterday from Republican lawmakers who will shape Social Security legislation, summoning them to the White House at a time when they are expressing increasing frustration about his handling of his top priority for the year.

No Democrats were on the invitation list for the late-afternoon meeting at the White House, reflecting Bush's desire to keep his team together before he worries about selling his ideas to the opposition.

Polling data to be presented to House Republicans on Friday at a retreat at a West Virginia resort show that a majority of voters 55 or older believe that major changes to Social Security are necessary, but that the party and White House face a struggle to sell their solution to voters. The research, by the Tarrance Group and Public Opinion Strategies, found that a majority of respondents believe GOP policies have hurt seniors.<snip>


The Democratic National Committee sent a fundraising e-mail based on the comments. It sought contributions and 100,000 signatures "calling on President Bush to disavow the notion of tying Social Security benefits to race or gender."

DNC Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe said in a conference call with reporters that Thomas's ideas would "create havoc within the system." When a reporter said the debate could aid blacks if it stopped the eligibility age from rising, McAuliffe maintained that Thomas "is attacking race and gender."
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/politics/26social.html?oref=login

Senators Urge Bush to Sell Overhaul of Social Security
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM

Published: January 26, 2005


ASHINGTON, Jan. 25 - After a meeting with President Bush on Tuesday, Republican senators said they had cautioned him that the drive to change the Social Security system was faltering because the public was not convinced that a fundamental overhaul was necessary.

The senators said Mr. Bush responded by promising to make a strong case in his State of the Union Message on Feb. 2 and to lead the charge to win public support.

"From our perspective on the Hill," said Senator Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, giving his version of what the president was told at the White House meeting, "others are defining the debate, and if he lets them do that, he loses the debate."<snip>

The Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, the panel with jurisdiction over Social Security, and members of the Senate Republican leadership met Mr. Bush for a half-hour. Some Republican representatives and senators have expressed reservations about particulars of the Social Security plan, and some have begun urging the White House to take a more active role in selling it.

Earlier, after a lunch among Republican senators, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, told reporters that senators needed "to engage the American people much better, and I would say the administration does, as well."<snip>

losers will not win re-election. Yhat is all they care about, not what is best for the country and its citizen.

Clinton's addon accounts will be all that they can get.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBPCM2QF4E.html

Bush Says He Will Lead Congress on Social Security; Some Republicans Nervous

By David Espo The Associated Press


<snip>In a troublesome sign for Republicans, sentiment swings against personal accounts when near-retirees are exposed to a series of common arguments for and against the proposal.

<snip>In his remark about payroll taxes, it was not clear whether Bush was also ruling out a change that would apply the levy to income that is now tax-free. Some Republicans in Congress support such a move.

<snip>
The GOP polling found that a majority of voters oppose reducing the starting benefit for all future retirees, or borrowing money or increasing the national debt.

On the other hand, there is support for applying the payroll tax to all income rather than maintaining an existing cap, and for reducing starting benefits for those who retire early.