President Bushs Social Security Accounts Idea Is Dead

Bloomberg News:" U.S. Senator Max Baucus, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said President George W. Bush's proposal to create private Social Security accounts has no chance of passing Congress. Privatization is dead, Baucus, a Montana lawmaker, said on Capitol Hill today. The Bush proposal won't pass, no way, no how. Lawmakers returned to Washington today after a two-week recess. Bush, who has undertaken a 60-day tour of the country to promote his proposal, and his congressional allies had hoped to use the recess to generate momentum for diverting Social Security funds to create the accounts. Almost all Democrats, including Baucus, oppose the accounts, and polls indicate the proposal is losing favor with the public. Republicans must get the support of at least five Democratic senators to gather the 60 votes necessary to pass Social Security legislation. Baucus said he contacted Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, several weeks ago to tell him Bush would not receive the necessary Democratic backing.I never really liked this set-up anyway, as I felt this was done around the rich. Not the working class and the poor."