Bush Touts Social Security Plan

Meanwhile, AARP Begins Campaign to Fight Private Accounts

GREECE, N.Y., May 24 -- President Bush brought his campaign to revise Social Security to this Upstate New York town Tuesday, telling an audience of supporters, "There are some good ideas that I put on the table" that Congress has been reluctant to engage.

Working to generate momentum for a plan that appears stuck behind a wall of Democratic opposition and GOP skepticism, Bush warned lawmakers that increasing numbers of Americans are getting the idea that the nation's retirement system is on an unsustainable fiscal course and said politicians must step up to solve the problem.

"Those who obstruct reform, no matter what party they're in, will pay a political price, in my judgment," said Bush, who has visited 27 states to sell his plan since his February State of the Union address.

Speaking before an audience at the packed Greece Athena Performing Arts Center, Bush said his ideas for revising Social Security offer a good starting point for changing the system, which is projected to begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes by 2017.

As the president touted his Social Security plan, AARP, an advocacy organization for older Americans, began a drive to urge its 2.5 million members in New York to send postcards to members of Congress encouraging them to restructure Social Security, but to avoid setting up private accounts that the group says would weaken the program by taking even more money out of it.

Other advocacy groups also oppose the plan, and congressional lawmakers are just beginning to explore what they might do to revise the program. Most Democrats say they will not negotiate over Bush's proposal unless the idea of private accounts is dropped. Many Republicans, meanwhile, appear reluctant to tamper with a program that has proved to be broadly popular in its 70-year history.

Bush was introduced by Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who has represented the area and been under pressure from labor and other local groups that oppose the president's plans. Reynolds has not specifically come out in favor of Bush's proposals.

"I fully recognize some in Washington don't particularly want to address this issue. It may be too difficult," Bush said. "And I recognize some of them say, well, this is a partisan thing, we don't want to make one party look good as opposed -- at the expense of another."