President Plays Up Sunny Side of Plan(BUT perhaps only as GOPyouth issue?)

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/la-na-social3feb03,1,2950613.story
SOCIAL SECURITY
President Plays Up Sunny Side of Plan
By Peter G. Gosselin and Warren Vieth
Times Staff Writers

February 3, 2005

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Wednesday rolled out the centerpiece of his plan to overhaul the financially troubled Social Security system — an enticing vision of young workers building retirement nest eggs in their own personal accounts.

But senior White House officials acknowledged that private accounts would do nothing to keep the giant retirement system solvent.

Indeed, some independent analysts said the private accounts would make the problems much worse by siphoning tax revenue away from the system and adding hundreds of billions of dollars in transition costs.

When it came to addressing the funding problem, Bush ticked off several possibilities. He attributed each one to a Democrat and embraced none, but he said all such ideas were on the table. All involve substantial cuts in Social Security benefits.

In showcasing private accounts, the White House seemed to be pursuing a political strategy: hoping to build enthusiasm for private accounts before bringing up benefit cuts.<snip>


DO YOU THINK THE GOP WANTS PRIVATE ACCOUNTS - OR DOES IT JUST WANT THE IDEA OF PRIVATE ACCOUNTS AS A WEDGE ISSUE TO GET THE YOUTH VOTE?


Independent political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said that the administration's admission that there was no connection between private accounts and Social Security's long-term solvency could complicate Bush's planned two-day, five-state campaign swing later this week to tout his proposals.

"This is bad news for the White House," Rothenberg said. "If Democrats can successfully argue that personal accounts won't solve the problem, they not only erase the message, but they also cast doubt on the crisis message." <SNIP>