Bush Defends Plan to Limit Retirement Benefits - Yahoo! News
I love to see the words "Bush" and "Defends" together in a headline...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Saturday defended his plan to cut the growth of some retirement benefits, saying it will fix most of Social Security's financing problems while helping people most in need.

Democrats have harshly criticized the proposal, which the president unveiled on Thursday amid the winding down this week of a 60-day campaign to push an overhaul of the retirement program.

Bush's plan would link the growth in benefits for some retirees to inflation rather than faster-growing wages. Wealthier people would see their future benefits curbed the most while middle-income people would see some limits on benefits but not as much.

Low-income people would be shielded from any cuts as their benefits would continue to be linked to wage growth.

This is only because they don't get jack in the first place. You better believe if they had one thin dime left over, the Pubs would be after it.

Rep. Sander Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said on Friday that even with the protection for low-income people, Bush's plan would mean "major cuts for the vast majority of beneficiaries," including many people in the middle class.

He and other Democrats accused Bush of trying to weaken Social Security by turning it into a poverty program.

The proposal to curb benefits is part of a broader plan in which Bush would also allow younger workers to shift some of their Social Security payroll taxes into private stock and bond accounts.

Polls show the public is wary of that idea and has grown even more so over the course of Bush's two-month Social Security tour.

The president has warned that the program is headed for bankruptcy when the Social Security trust fund runs out in 2041.

In the radio address, he said it was essential to have a bipartisan effort to fix it.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and California Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, are starting the work of crafting legislation.

But Democrats want Bush to take the private accounts idea off the table before they join the discussions -- a stance Bush rejects.

Rep. Clay Shaw, Republican of Florida, said that if Democrats continue to refuse to negotiate, the Republican strategy will be to blame them for ignoring Social Security's problems.

"I think the Democrats are going to have to face the situation of coming out with something ... or putting themselves in a position where they are irrelevant to the process," Shaw said earlier this week.

Negotiate? Um...dude, you have already made sure that Democrats are irrelevant in the process. I find it interesting that when it comes to judges, we don't count. When it comes to the budget, we don't count. When it comes to just about damn near everything else we are called names and marginalized and steam-rolled over. But yet, on this, you beg for bipartisian support so you will have cover when the shit flies.

No dice. This baby is all yours. Run with it. See ya in 2006.