Lawmakers No Closer On Privatization Plan

The latest news out of Washington has President Bush's top Social Security adviser playing to Democrats in the hopes that the administration can slip its controversial private accounts into the program's reform plan.

Reiterating a party line, Charles Balhouse, special assistant for economic policy in the Bush administration, told Congressional Quarterly: "Social Security is simply too important for partisan politics." But Democrats still feel strongly about the potentially negative affects of private accounts and have refused to negotiate on an overhaul as long as Bush continues to press that they be funded out of payroll taxes.