WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush Thursday mounted a staunch defence of his high-stakes bid to reform the US retirement safety net, amid signs of ebbing support for the move in Congress and around the country.
Bush has made changing the system the key domestic goal of his second term in office -- confounding orthodoxy that political capital spent on the system issue is always destined for the political graveyard.
The president said in a prime-time televised news conference in the White House that he wanted to ensure that benefits for lower waged Americans would grow faster than those for more well-off workers.
In an apparent bid to head off criticisms that his plan to allow workers to divert a portion of social security taxes to a private stock market account is too risky, he proposed investors could opt for safer US Treasury bonds.
"That will allow an American to build a nest egg that he or she can pass on to whom ever he or she chooses," Bush said.
"I want people to have real assets in the system. I want people to say, here are my mix of bonds and stocks that I own."
Bush's Democratic opponents have charged that private accounts are a step towards privatising a much loved system underpinning US society, and have accused Bush of failing to lay out realistic proposals for reform.
But Bush said Thursday that he favoured a system in which "benefits for low income workers will grow faster than benefits for people who are better off."
"If you work hard and pay into social security your entire life you will not retire into poverty."
"As a matter of fairness, I propose future generations receive benefits equal to or greater than the benefits seniors get."
Bush's opponents however charge that his plan would do nothing to meet predicted shortfalls in social security, and would not relieve intense pressure on the system as the baby-boomer generation begins to retire in the next few years and there are fewer workers to pay into the system.
Bush acknowledged that "these changes have put social security on the path to bankruptcy," and has admitted in the past that his plan for private accounts would no save the system on its own.
He faces a race against time on the issue, given that the power of a president starts to ebb midway through his second term, as political calculations start to turn towards the fight for his succession.
In support of the scheme, Bush has mounted a 60-day, 60-city cross country drive, with many of the characteristics of an election campaign to woo wavering voters, but recent opinion polls suggest his message may not be getting through.
But Bush signalled a showdown with Congress over the issue, with Democrats insistent that private accounts cannot be part of any legislation.
"That's got to be part of a comprehensive package," Bush insisted.
04/29/2005 01:36 GMT