GOP shying away from Bush's Social Security plan

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GOP shying away from Bush's Social Security plan

Key Republicans in Congress among many voicing concerns

By Finlay Lewis
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

April 11, 2005

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – When President Bush came to town last week to promote his Social Security plan, the local Republican congresswoman was otherwise occupied in Washington. As Bush hit the halfway point in his 60-day campaign, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's decision to meet with a visiting delegation of West Virginia physicians reflected a stubborn reality: For a politician preparing to face the voters, tampering with perhaps the most popular government program ever is a risky business.

"Being a Republican in West Virginia is hard enough, but carrying the president's water on this Social Security plan in a state with one of the older populations in the country, wow, that's asking a whole lot of her," said Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report. "She didn't need a political consultant to tell her meeting with the docs was a much better idea."

But Bush's problems go well beyond West Virginia, a state he has carried twice but that prefers Democratic candidates in most statewide and congressional races.

After holding 12 Social Security events last month, Bush may have succeeded in convincing many that the program has long-term solvency problems. But he has made little headway in selling the idea that younger beneficiaries would be better served by diverting a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into individual retirement accounts.

The party discipline in Congress that helped Bush earn a series of first-term victories on issues such as tax cuts and the creation of a prescription drug program appears to be faltering. Key Republicans such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield have voiced misgivings about aspects of Bush's approach.

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