Here we go again...President
Bush
to put camel's nose in tent, start push
that could lead to
privatization of Social Security
WASHINGTON — President
Bush will use next week's State of the Union address to try to
revive a proposal that would allow younger workers to invest a portion
of their Social Securitytaxes in the stock market, aides say.
His election-year
agenda also calls for pressing Congress to make already-enacted tax cuts
permanent, such as the elimination of inheritances taxes and reductions
in capital gains taxes . Bush is
considering whether to renew his push for a new kind of tax-preferred
savings accounts that could be used for retirement, college, health care
or other purposes.
Bush will address
the nation in a televised speech before a joint session of Congress at 9
p.m. EST Tuesday, three years to the day after his inauguration and one
day after the Iowa presidential caucuses.
Approaching a battle
for re-election, Bush is expected to highlight economic growth and
successes in the fight against terrorism, most notably the capture of
deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
It will be a
stay-the-course message at a time when his Democratic rivals are urging
a change at the White House.
"He needs to
make the case as best he can that people are better off and more secure
than they were four years ago, and that maintaining the status quo is
the better course for the nation," said Phil Trounstine, the
director of the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San
Jose State University.
"He has to be
political but deft. It can't sound like a political speech," said
Trounstine, a former communications director for ex-Gov. Gray Davis of
California. "He's got to sound like he is a statesman and the
leader of the nation, not a politician and the leader of his
party."
The partisan
atmosphere of the campaign year may diminish the chances of major action
on Bush's initiatives, some of which have languished for years. But the
administration hopes that last year's approval of sweeping changes in
Medicare and the addition of a prescription drug benefit will clear the
way for action on Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social
Security.
As a candidate, Bush
said he would shore up future funding for Social Security by giving
workers the option of staying in the current retirement system or
investing a portion of their Social Security taxes in individual
retirement accounts.
Workers who chose to
invest would receive a smaller Social Security benefit when they retire,
which would be supplemented by earnings from their investment accounts.
Bush also is
considering whether to renew his push for lifetime savings accounts that
could be used for any purpose, with tax-free withdrawals, and for
retirement savings accounts in which money could not be withdrawn
tax-free until the accountholder reached a set age.
As originally
proposed last year, contributions to the accounts would not be
tax-deductible. Yearly contributions would likely be capped at $7,500.
Bush has already
announced two large-scale proposals this month, rather than saving them
for the State of the Union address.
On Jan. 7, he asked
Congress to grant legal status to millions of undocumented workers in
the United States. A week later, he said he wants to establish a
long-term presence on the moon to serve as a springboard for ventures
deeper into the solar system.
Rolling out those
big initiatives ahead of the State of the Union garnered Bush several
days of public attention, rather than one or two if he had saved them
for Tuesday, Trounstine said.
In the State of the
Union speech, Bush is likely to forcefully defend the immigration
initiative against criticism from conservatives and from liberals alike,
one administration official said.
Other officials said
they expected Bush to renew his call on Congress to make his tax cuts
permanent.
Some of the
reductions Bush enacted, such as the estate tax, phase out during this
decade but come back in 2011.
One conservative
activist who talks to White House officials often said Bush is under
pressure to call for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex
marriage.
But Bush is unlikely
to wade into such a polarizing issue at the starting gate of an election
year, the conservative activist said.
Ken Khachigian, who
wrote speeches for Presidents Reagan and Nixon, said Bush needs to
defend his policies while "laying out a few new things to spice up
the policy agenda so that he's not just sitting back."
"Without
stooping to the same shouting you're getting on the Democratic side,
give a very presidential response to the criticisms," Khachigian
said he would advise Bush