High noon looms for Social Security deal
MSNBC, January 22nd, 2006
Hank Paulson's attempt to persuade Democratic
members of Congress to agree to launch a bipartisan initiative to
reform Social Security is fast approaching crunch time.
People
close to the highly sensitive discussions say the Treasury secretary
will know in three to four weeks whether enough prominent Democrats are
willing to join such an effort to give it a plausible chance of success.
At this stage the exploratory talks are focused on process rather than the substance of any reform plan.
Treasury
officials are encouraged by feedback in a second round of telephone
calls between Mr Paulson and prominent Democrats, which followed an
earlier set of calls in the immediate aftermath of the November
mid-term elections.
"He
has had some productive conversations with members on both sides of the
aisle," a Treasury official said. "It remains to be seen whether we can
reach critical mass." The official refused to name names, for fear this
would jeopardise the discussions.
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