Bush backs sliding scale Social Security benefits to well-off would be cut back Friday, April 29, 2005 By Ann McFeatters, Post-Gazette National Bureau WASHINGTON -- President Bush last night spelled out new details of his proposal to overhaul Social Security, saying the benefits paid to low-income retirees should rise faster than those for the well-to-do.    President Bush last night continued to seek support for private retirement accounts. "If you work hard and pay into Social Security your entire life, you will not retire into poverty," he said in a nationally televised news conference, only the fourth prime-time session with reporters of his presidency. That would change the fundamental nature of the half-century-old program, which now pays benefits that increase with the increase in wages and do not take assets into account. Bush's proposal would mean that the benefits for middle- and upper-income retirees would be based on price inflation, not wage inflation, which is bigger. The White House said this would go seven-tenths of the way toward keeping Social Security from going bankrupt in 2041. Tomorrow will be Bush's 100th day in office in his second term and for an hour last night he gave a progress report. With various polls this week putting his job approval at the lowest of his presidency, in the 46 percent to 47 percent range, he was clearly seeking to shore up waning support for his ambitious agenda for the next four years. Bush again refused to retreat from his insistence that younger workers be allowed to invest some of their payroll taxes in private accounts, although Democrats say that is a non-starter because, they say, it would mean reduced benefits. Bush spoke as White House officials issued written material saying the type of change he had in mind could be accomplished with a "sliding scale benefit formula." That would mean lower payments for future retirees of middle and upper incomes than they are currently guaranteed -- a fact Bush himself did not mention in his session with reporters. Two-thirds of Americans said in polling this past week that they are uneasy about his ideas for Social Security. Acknowledging that many are wary of the stock market, Bush suggested they could invest in Treasury bonds. The Democratic National Committee said, "If that performance was supposed to put Bush's second term back on track, Americans are in for three-and-a-half years of great storytelling, but no real solutions to their problems. The president contradicted himself calling the bonds in Social Security worthless IOUs in a filing cabinet, but then referred to the same bonds in private accounts as backed by the full faith of the American government." On other issues, Bush said democracy was taking hold in Iraq, said diplomacy was the best defense against a nuclear North Korea, chided Russia for selling anti-aircraft missiles to Syria (he meets Russian president Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow) and urged Congress to pass his energy bill (although he conceded it would do little to bring down current high gasoline prices). The president said his strategy to bring down prices is to try to convince oil-producing nations to produce more crude oil, although no country has the capacity to increase production enough to bring down gas prices this summer. He promised there would be "no price-gouging" at gas pumps this summer. The House has passed his energy package, which opens the door for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but the Senate has yet to act. On other hot topics consuming Washington, he again defended his controversial nominee for the United Nations, John Bolton, conceding the mercurial diplomat was "blunt" but saying he has the skill and the outspokenness to help reform the international body. In a mild rebuke, he said he disagreed with groups such as the Family Research Council which have condemned, on religious grounds, those politicians who oppose his judicial nominees. Religion is a private affair, he said. But he made clear he wants an up-or-down vote, which was an overt endorsement of the tactic some Republican leaders want to impose of changing the Senate rules to ban filibusters for judicial nominees. A Washington Post poll released this week showed that by a margin of 66 percent to 26 percent, Americans think that changing Senate rules to accommodate Bush is a bad idea. Bush refused to say he is frustrated with his decline in the polls. He said if a president who governs by polls it's like a dog chasing its tail. But the White House scheduled last night's news conference -- his first in a year -- after several negative polls came out, especially on his handling of Social Security. Seeking again to reassure Americans, Bush said, "As we fix Social Security, some things won't change. Seniors and people with disabilities will get their checks. All Americans born before 1950 will receive the full benefits." The White House at first scheduled the hour-long press conference for 8:30 p.m. EDT but moved it up to 8 p.m. to avoid running into the networks' shows such as CBS' "Survivor" and "The Apprentic" on NBC. Even so, some networks cut away before Bush stopped answering questions to resume their regular programming. Bush again would not give a timetable for withdrawing Americans troops from Iraq, although he said the number of troops in the country has declined from a high of 160,000 to 139,000. He said he talked with Iraq's new prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, and asked him to visit the United States. He insisted recruiting was going well for Iraq's security forces, despite attacks from insurgents, and he said he warned the new leader not to politicize the military. Bush said the U.S. economy was doing well although 61 percent told pollsters this week they think the economy is getting worse. In a sober development, the Commerce Department reported yesterday the economy grew at its slowest pace in two years in the first quarter this year. Bush did demand Congress pass the controversial asbestos bill to curtail litigation by victims as a way he said would beef up the economy. He also said he was pleased to have signed a bill limiting class action lawsuits and making bankruptcy more difficult to file. And he defended his No Child Left Behind education act which requires schools to test students on their academic progress, refusing to comment on a lawsuit against it filed by the nation's largest teachers' union that alleges they are losing control of their classrooms by having to teach to the testing. Bush said he was not surprised by the difficulties he is having in getting his agenda passed in Congress, saying he was changing the status quo. "I'm not surprised that some are balking at doing hard work," he said. (Ann McFeatters can be reached at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com or at 202-662-7071.) Back Copyright ©1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.