WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- President Bush is out of touch with the American people on Social Security reform, but Democrats would work with him on reform, a congressman said Saturday.
Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., giving the Democrat's weekly Saturday radio address, said Bush's proposal for privatized Social Security accounts would result in major government borrowing and benefit cuts.
"Maybe that's why the president is now trying to sell privatization through staged gatherings, where the audience is hand-selected and the discussion is scripted," he said. "The president is out of touch, hearing what he wants to hear, not what the public is saying."
Opinion polls indicate the president is having a hard sell over the privatization idea for younger workers. The plan has run into stiff opposition from Democrats and some Republicans alike.
Levin said unlike Bush, Democrats are holding open town hall meetings, during which public dismay with the President's plans is clearly evident.
Democrats were willing to work with Bush on reform, he said, but the privatization proposal was a roadblock to that bipartisanship.
Bush has traveled the country to generate public support for reform and the account idea, saying it is was necessary to protect benefits for younger workers and save a system tipped for insolvency.
