He wants to allow younger workers to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in private accounts. Social Security might as well be saving their money in their mattresses. The commission is to present its findings to Bush in the fall, and should include a plan for private accounts, he said. Any recommendation would be subject to congressional approval, though Congress isn't likely to tackle the issue next year - an election year. Democrats charge the commission was created to give Bush political cover with its bipartisan makeup but a predetermined outcome.
Oil companies favor drilling in the refuge while environmentalists want to preserve it untouched.
The makeup of the Social Security commission was by design, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. It's been too often, not always, but too often in the history of Social Security that commissions did gather dust or they did create gridlock,'' he said. That commission expanded the plan to cover federal employees and instituted a gradual retirement age increase from 65 to 67. Social Security is expected to start paying out more than it collects by 2016 because of an influx of baby boom retirees. The fund will run out of cash after 2038.