MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — President Bush yesterday said it appears that “there will be no solution” to Social Security’s looming insolvency because Democrats are blocking reform with “too much politics.”
The statement came two days after Democrats at the president’s State of the Union address cheered his failure to cajole Congress into reforming Social Security.
“There’s a solution to be had,” Mr. Bush said during a visit to a 3M plant outside Minneapolis. “Unfortunately, the atmosphere in Washington appears that there will be no solution because there’s too much politics.”
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the president was not trying to signal a shift in his Social Security policy. The White House insists that Mr. Bush has not given up on his quest to reform Social Security, although he is not pushing the proposal as aggressively as he did last year.
Still, the president decided yesterday to push back against Democrats, who jumped to their feet and cheered lustily Tuesday, when Mr. Bush mentioned his failure to reform Social Security.
“It’s not right for members of Congress [to] look at workers paying into a system that’s going bankrupt and not tell the truth,” the president said yesterday. He accused Congress members of irresponsibly saying ” ’Vote for me, I’m going to make sure the benefits grow faster than the rate of inflation.’ ”
Mr. Bush also upbraided Congress for failing to make his tax cuts permanent.
“Tax relief is set to expire, and when it does, you’re going to get a tax increase,” he said. “Not only do I think it’s wrong to take money out of your pocket at this point in our economic history, I also believe that uncertainty in the tax code makes it difficult for people to make wise decisions about investment.”
For example, Democrats favor a temporary extension of the president’s tax break on research and development. But Mr. Bush said companies like 3M cannot make long-term decisions about research and development commitments amid the uncertainty of a temporary tax break.
“Congress needs to understand that nations like China and India and Japan and Korea and Canada all offer tax incentives that are permanent,” he said.
The remarks were part of the president’s competitiveness initiative, which he unveiled in his State of the Union address.
At the start of yesterday’s speech, Mr. Bush tried to pay tribute to one of 3M’s most famous products.
“Got to take my Post-it Note off my speech here,” he said, removing a small square of yellow paper from his text and affixing it to the front of his lectern.
The note quickly fell to the floor, prompting the president to joke: “My fault. I should have cleaned off the podium.”
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