A plea to get help for baby boomers

Greenspan urged action on Social Security and Medicare 'sooner rather than later.'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan prodded Congress on Wednesday to curtail the cost of government health and retirement benefits promised to baby boomers "sooner rather than later," at the same time giving a fresh boost to President Bush's embattled call for personal accounts under Social Security.
"We owe future retirees as much time as possible to adjust their plans for work, saving and retirement spending," Greenspan said, suggesting an urgency that dovetails with Bush's call for action this year on Social Security before its financial situation worsens.
Still, there were fresh indications of the difficulty confronting Bush as he tries to build support in the Republican-controlled Congress for remaking the Depression-era program -- including a nationwide poll that shows support for his plans dropping as they become better known.
Debate over funding
Treasury Secretary John Snow sent concern through the ranks of conservative lawmakers when he suggested the president might be willing to jettison his proposal to fund personal accounts with payroll taxes and accept "add-on" accounts that rely on other sources of revenue.
"Everything's on the table," Snow said in a session with reporters. "We've indicated where we are, what is the best solution. I think we're going to be able to sell the best solution, ultimately." Other Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had quickly been assured that Bush will insist on using payroll taxes to fund at least part of personal accounts.
At the same time, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the committee with jurisdiction over Social Security, suggested focusing attention on the program's overall solvency, rather than the part of the president's plan that has sparked the most opposition.
"Since personal accounts don't have a lot to do with solvency -- and I support personal accounts -- but maybe we ought to focus on the solvency and bring people to the table just over what do you do for the solvency for the next 75 years," he said in a radio interview with reporters in his home state.
Four months after an election in which they lost the White House as well as seats in both houses of Congress, minority Democrats seemed to enjoy watching Republicans struggle among themselves.
"I don't think we are ever going to see a White House Social Security bill," said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. "If the president is going around the country saying that if you are older than 55, there will be no benefit cuts, what they [GOP lawmakers] are hearing back home is that if you are 55 or younger, you are guaranteed benefit cuts."
Democratic opposition strong
Congressional Democrats are virtually unanimous in their opposition to Bush's plans, arguing the president wants to cut Social Security benefits to pay for privatization. Some Republicans are skittish about tackling the issue, as well, fearing the political repercussions of making such fundamental changes in a program that benefits 52 million Americans.
Greenspan spoke carefully, but his message was unambiguous as he appeared before the House Budget Committee: The government can't keep all the promises it has made to the post-World War II generation.
"I fear that we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver," he said. "If existing promises need to be changed, those changes should be made sooner rather than later."
Greenspan also said that adding personal accounts to Social Security would help raise overall savings in the country, a step needed for a healthy economy. "The reason is that money allocated to the personal accounts would no longer be available to fund other government activities," he said.
While Greenspan said Congress should move quickly to consider possible benefit cuts for Social Security and Medicare, he urged, as he has before, a go-slow approach to setting up Bush's proposed private accounts.
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