Grassley: Social Security reform dead until 2009
With Republicans facing a difficult politicalclimate next year and an intense presidential contest in the yearsfollowing, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) yesterday said Social Securityis probably dead until 2009. The Finance Committee chairman is thefirst Senate leader to acknowledge publicly that consensus onoverhauling the system is unachievable in the near future.
President Bush’s campaign to add private investment accounts toSocial Security has attracted scant support from voters andcongressional Republicans, despite a major push from the leadership ofboth chambers. After long negotiations among his committee members,however, Grassley could not produce a passable Social Security bill.
“I can’t even get consensus among Republicans, so I’m verypessimistic about it in the future,” Grassley told lobbyists andofficials while speaking before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The nextbite at the apple” for Social Security, he added, would come after thenext presidential election.