WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- A series of mounting political crises may lead congressional Republicans to ending plans to reform Social Security, once a key goal of a Bush second-term.
With Congress reeling from the fallout from Hurricane Katrina and rising gasoline prices, along with lagging support for the war in Iraq and sagging approval ratings for President Bush, Social Security reform could fall aside, The Washington Post reported.
Bush made Social Security reform a key part of his inauguration speech and toured the country trying to drum up support. But even in the Republican-controlled Congress, reform is facing a tough fight and could jeopardize Republican candidates in 2006.
An unidentified House Republican strategists told the Post: "With everything else that Congress has to deal with, from Katrina to immigration to ... who knows, there's just so much on the plate, never mind that the Senate is bogged down in confirmation hearings. Why would you want to make vulnerable members take a vote on something that's not going anywhere? You could make the case that it would be suicide."
