Social Security and tax reform will be the centerpiece of President Bush's second-term domestic agenda

Modern Machine Shop, Feb, 2005

Social Security and tax reform will be the centerpiece of President Bush's second-term domestic agenda. Both issues will provoke strong debate in a Congress that is likely to remain highly partisan. This does not mean that there will be no progress on these hot-button topics. There is general agreement that Social Security must be reformed before benefits going out are larger than payments going into the trust fund.

Congress is likely to look at a broad range of proposals to fix Social Security for the long term. Included are proposals to increase the retirement age (already scheduled to rise to age 67), boosting the payroll tax on employers and employees and raising the limit on the amount of income that is subject to the payroll tax, which stands at $90,000 for the current year.