Is now a good time to be talking about Social Security privatization?
Dan Kadlec: Well, here it is. Two weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill said Social Security reform was “next up,” and clearly it looks like a mistake to imagine that Bush’s isn’t going to follow through on the stuff he pushed during his campaign. So it’s definitely coming. Now, politicians certainly have to be aware of the climate when they float these ideas, and now, with the markets having fallen so far, is certainly not a great time to be floating a Social Security plan that depends even in part on investment in the stock market. But so far, Bush has really benefited from great timing just look at the tax cut, which was not popular at all when he first introduced the idea during the campaign. Then the economy slows down, everyone’s worried about hard times, and suddenly Bush has a $1.35 trillion tax cut set to be passed by Congress. So the timing will be important, but there’s a good chance it could work out for him again. The panel isn’t set to even report until fall, and by
