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Card Says Social Security Will Be Alive in '07
January 11th 05:47:32 PM
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card
acknowledged Wednesday that Social Security reform is dead this year,
but said lawmakers should be ready to work on an overhaul in 2007.
Asked at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce luncheon whether the administration had anything new to report on its now-dormant effort to reform the entitlement program, Card said, "No. But that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be reformed."
Once one of the White House's top domestic priorities, Social Security
reform has fallen out of view since President George W. Bush's proposal to create private accounts met heavy resistance. The White House isn't expected to push the issue further this year, an election year.
"I think the reality is that Congress is predisposed not to do the heavy lifting that is necessary for Social Security reform in 2006, but they definitely should be prepared to start lifting in 2007," Card said.
The bulk of Card's comments to the business group was devoted to the
administration's top priorities - the war on terror and keeping the
economy growing. He provided few specifics on the White House's domestic agenda, other than to tout the importance of making tax cuts permanent and heightened budget discipline.
"Today, we are in the final stages of preparing the fiscal '07 budget,
and there's a budget review process that I'm in the middle of, listening to appeals and dashing expectations or rising them up, but the discipline is what's important," Card said.
Treasury Secretary John Snow said Tuesday that the administration's
budget for the year beginning Oct. 1 will call for reductions in the
growth of spending at every government agency. Though the federal
deficit declined 23% to $319 billion in fiscal 2005, it's expected to
rise again in 2006 - possibly as high as $400 billion - due in part to
costs related to the recovery from the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
"I'm expecting that you will find that the budget for fiscal year '07
will be a very disciplined budget," Card said Wednesday. "It will fund
the appropriate priorities of winning the war on terror, securing the
homeland, but it will say tighten the belt, make the tough decisions
about which programs are necessary and fund them appropriately, but
exercise prudence with the taxpayers' money."
Asked about Judge Samuel Alito's ongoing confirmation hearings, Card
predicted the Supreme Court nominee will pass through the Senate
Judiciary Committee in a partisan vote and be confirmed by the full
Senate by "a comfortable margin."
Posted by Chris Schrimpf
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