GW Bush at the height of his--ummm--- "political capital" did absolutely nothing on Social Security except to go on a tour, talk about private accounts and then turn the public against it. Oh, how I wish our press had some brains left.
Two years ago, Bush was reelected with an apparent mandate and a pliant congressional majority. His first priority, it seemed, was Social Security. In that debate, he proved interested in nothing but private accounts, which had nothing to do with solvency. He never switched course. He never sat down with the Republican leadership and emerged with a solvency deal. And all of these oversights occurred while Bush stood at the height of his powers and with, essentially, full control over the legislative product. So why does Mallaby think that Bush will be more interested in a Democratic product focused on the financial issues Bush showed no interest in?---just like all the pundits did with the Iraq War, he presents his imaginary world not as a hypothetical or a hope or a dream, but as cold, hard, fact.
Imagine that.
