Wide Divide On Social Security
Party Differences Hardening On Social Security; Dems Pledge Fight
-
Play CBS Video Video Social Security Debate Democrats remain firmly against President Bush's Social Security plan, and his 60 days of campaigning haven't improved public opinion. Bill Plante and Gloria Borger have the story.
-
Video Soc Sec Hearings Begin Social Security reform took center stage at the Capitol, as the Senate Finance Committee began hearing ideas for saving the system. CBS News' Aleen Sirgany reports.
-
-
Thousands turned out in Washington, D.C. (above), and in 34 other cities Tuesday for protests against - and demonstrations for - the proposed Social Security changes. (AP)
-
Jeff Slade (left) and Henry Horne Jr. (right) exchange views on the Bush Social Security plan, outside the Galveston, Texas, building where the president held a forum on the subject Tuesday. (CBS)
-
President Bush talks with participants in a Social Security roundtable held Tuesday in Galveston, Texas, where the county opted out of Social Security two decades ago and created a private plan. (AP)
-
-
Interactive Social Security How it works, the shortfall and Bush's proposal, and facts on recipients.
-
Interactive The 109th Congress Meet the leaders and follow the action in the House and Senate.
The venerable government program was political fodder Tuesday from the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous Capitol Hill rally which attracted thousands of protesters to smaller demonstrations in 34 other cities across the nation. Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto, rebuffing pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.
"If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing President Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.
"Personal accounts unravel the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The Republicans didn't just sit and take it.
"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the normally mild-mannered committee chairman, erupted at one point during the hearing.
"Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits," he added. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about."
Taken together, the hearing and the rally underscored the hardening of partisan differences in the three months since Bush called on Congress to enact legislation that included an option for younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes on their own.
The president was in Galveston, Texas, during the day, the latest in a string of appearances designed to build support for his plan.
CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante reports that Mr. Bush stepped up his traditional Social Security stump speech for the Galveston audience by suggesting his generation has a moral obligation "to permanently solve the Social Security system once and for all."
"And then we can say we did our duty," Mr. Bush said.
There, he gave embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay a high-profile, in-person show of support, warmly thanking the Texas Republican, who is facing allegations of ethical improprieties, for his leadership in Congress.
DeLay, an influential conservative on Capitol Hill, is facing questions about money used to pay for some of his foreign trips, about political fundraising for Texas elections and about his ties to a lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, who is under federal criminal investigation.
His proposal, which Democrats unvaryingly refer to as privatization, envisions deep cuts in guaranteed benefits for future retirees.
House Republicans, confronting solid Democratic opposition and fearing a political backlash in 2006, have made it clear they want the Senate to move first on legislation that would make major changes in Social Security.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More From Politics
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
