Social Insecurity

By MARK THOMPSON

As a possible fix-it legacy project for his presidency, George W. Bush is returning to Social Security, the retirement program that continues to slide toward insolvency. Meet the new key players in the Social Security game, including a surprising presidential appointee who could outmaneuver the ascendant Democrats. [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.] THE RAINMAKER WHY HE MATTERS HOW HE'LL PLAY IT Henry Paulson Jr. The Treasury Secretary and Bush's Social Security front man raised eyebrows last week by saying he would set "no preconditions" on the Administration's push to reform. Paulson's statement hinted that the President is backing off his demand that workers be allowed to invest some of the payroll taxes levied for Social Security in private accounts. Max Baucus A Montana Democrat and the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he has declared he wants to hold hearings on Social Security's shaky health. Baucus believes private Social Security accounts are a nonstarter. "Don't waste our time," he says. "It's off the table." He plans to deliver that message to Paulson in person. Charles Rangel The New York Democrat, best known for being in favor of a military draft, is the new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees Social Security. He has already met with Paulson and calls him a "straight shooter," but he told the New York Daily News that "with me in charge, President Bush can forget about privatizing Social Security." Andrew Biggs Two days after the midterms, Bush nominated Biggs for deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. As a think-tank scholar, he pushed hard for private accounts. He kept mum as a lower-level Social Security bureaucrat, but Biggs' promotion sends a clear signal that Administration officials might not be as flexible as they are saying.