Conservative Democratic Lawmakers, Citing Deficits,Oppose Plan for Private Accounts
via WSJ (reg req)
...That opposition was expected. What has surprised the White House and Republican congressional leaders are the yelps from the Capitol's small pack of conservative House Democrats -- the self-named Blue Dogs -- and a few like-minded senators. A source of support for Mr. Bush in the past, these Democrats so far sound unyielding in their opposition to his private accounts plan. The explanation lies in both deficit politics, and in resentments over past grievances. "It's a trust issue," says Blue Dog Rep. Allen Boyd of Florida, "because of the lack of bipartisan cooperation in the last four years."
The 35 Blue Dogs, mostly from the South, took their name in the mid-1990s when a former member said he felt "choked blue" by the party's liberals. Along with several Democratic senators, some were ready to back a Social Security overhaul when Mr. Bush took office and the government was running surpluses. But the president focused instead on cutting taxes repeatedly while spending grew.
The result was a ballooning deficit -- and the Blue Dogs are defined by their hostility to deficits. Mr. Bush's private Social Security accounts would require trillions of dollars of borrowing to cover long-term transition costs at a time when government debt is piling up. "That's ludicrous," says Rep. John Tanner of Tennessee.
More problems for Bush on Social Security. TPM discusses if the Dems should be involved in a solution here
