Tough Sell

It's going to be an uphill battle for Bush to accomplish much in his second term. His plans to overhaul social security and further increase the deficit are not going to be accepted by the American people unless they can see compelling evidence of an immediate problem. According to the latest CBS/New York Times Poll when people were "asked to choose among five domestic issues facing the country, respondents rated Social Security third, behind jobs and health care."

Bush's plans to overhaul social security have the support of Greenspan. The Washington Post reported, "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday urged Congress to act soon to reduce future Social Security and Medicare benefits, warning that growing federal budget deficits threaten to cause economic stagnation in coming decades." The government should consider raising the social security tax limit beyond $90k and reversing tax cuts for those earning over 200k to get some immediate deficit relief.