But he also vowed to use procedural moves to prevent the Senate from acting on any legislation along the lines of Bush's proposal. He says they would reap higher benefits in those accounts. The government estimates that the Social Security system will go broke by 2037 unless changes are made. The system is set up so that current workers' taxes pay for retirees' benefits. As the large baby-boom generation retires, there will be more retirees and fewer workers to support them.
Democratic leaders agree that the system needs an overhaul.
But they say putting some Social Security money in a sometimes turbulent stock market is dangerous. Aiming to rebut criticism that the panel will simply endorse his own ideas, Bush emphasized that it is made up of eight Republicans and eight Democrats. It will be chaired by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former Democratic senator from New York, and Republican Richard Parsons, co-chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner. Moynihan served on a previous Social Security reform commission in the early 1980s. The AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an advocacy organization for older Americans.