Wanted: A Way Out

Today's Washington Post says that Republican Congressional leaders are looking for a way out on Social Security, because the way things stand, nothing will happen:

Democrats are united in their opposition, and the Finance Committee does not have the Republican votes to approve a Social Security plan that would divert some payroll taxes to private investment accounts. But the committee, which has jurisdiction over the issue, also does not have the votes to pass a plan that would preserve Social Security's solvency without the personal accounts because too many GOP conservatives want them.

President Bush has responded by dispensing his cautious calls for bipartisanship in favor of far tougher rhetoric that blames the Democrats for the stalemate. "On issue after issue, they stand for nothing except obstruction," Bush said at a GOP fundraiser Tuesday night. "And this is not leadership. It is the philosophy of the stop sign, the agenda of the roadblock."

It takes two to make this roadblock, Mr. President, and your side is one.

Further down in the same article is evidence of what I've argued from the beginning:

Some White House domestic policy officials have suggested that the savings that would flow from reducing future Social Security costs would go a long way toward fixing the government's long-term financial problems.

Translation: They want to rob Social Security to pay for their ill-advised tax cuts.