Bush's 2nd Term Agenda Plate Full

It was the mandate critics claimed he never had in the first term: a clear win in the electoral college and a majority vote from the American people. And with a solid majority in Congress, it's a victory President Bush plans to capitalize on.

During the first press conference after his re-election, Mr. Bush said, "I've earned capital in the campaign — political capital and I intend to spend it."

As CBS News Correspondent John Roberts reports, private accounts for Social Security will be the first big agenda item, and its going to cost the president plenty in political capital and real dollars. The price tag to start up the program could reach $2 trillion. Experts say it will only help but not heal Social Security.

"There are still too many baby boomers that are going to need too much support from too few of their kids, and I think the solution is going to have to be some painful cuts in benefits," says investment strategist Ed Yardeni of Oak Associates.

President Bush is also putting down a payment on tax code reform, establishing a commission to come up with ideas for next year. And, he'll invest in legislation to limit lawsuits.

But none of this will come easy. Democrats insist they're not about to get rolled in the next Congress. Two senior senators are vowing to put a microscope on White House policies, from what they call contract abuses in Iraq to the real cost of Mr. Bush's Medicare prescription drug plan.

"The congressional watchdog remains fast asleep and we intend to wake it up," says North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan.

With a season of head-knocking ahead in Congress, Mr. Bush will seek to soothe relations in the foreign policy arena. In February, he'll launch a charm offensive in Europe aimed to win back allies still hostile over the Iraq war. But will Europe buy the idea of the gunslinger-gone-friendly?

"He's not going to win them back overnight," says Jessica Tuchman Matthews of the Carnegie Endowment. "There's going to be no sort of magic turnaround."

President Bush doesn't want to be remembered as the one who lost Iraq, so he'll need plenty of help from the world to make it work. While Mr. Bush may be loathe to admit it, a second term is all about legacy, and on that front he has set the bar very high.

"Until he puts his packages out and gets some bipartisan support, it doesn't matter how badly he wants it [because] it may not happen," says Republican strategist Ed Rollins.

It's a full plate to be sure and very little time to digest it all. In a short two years, Mr. Bush officially becomes a lame duck.