Opponents of private accounts contend that using tax credits and other incentives to help middle- and lower-income people save for their retirement could reduce the strain on the system.
"Social Security faces a long-term deficit, but calling it a crisis is an exaggeration," said Peter Orszag, an economist at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank. "The scale of the problem is manageable. If your car has a flat tire, you don't get rid of the car."
Polls show a majority of voters back the creation of personal accounts, particularly when the question is posed without mention of potentially higher taxes or shrinking benefits.
A Gallup Poll last fall showed that more than six in 10 voters backed a shift to private accounts. But it also showed a stark generational divide -- 82% of voters younger than 30 backed the privatization proposal, but support steadily declined among other age groups, to less than 30% among those at least 65.
"People who are into the system now have no interest in changing anything because they're worried about losing benefits," said Frank Newport, the poll's editor in chief.
"But for young people, many of whom aren't convinced they're going to get any money [from Social Security], they like the idea."
Although Bush aides contend that Social Security can be changed without an increase in payroll taxes, Blahous, the lead White House official on the issue, wrote a book before joining the administration that, while advocating personal investment accounts, was skeptical about any plan promising a pain-free fix.
Such proposals "are so tempting that they seduce even the most well-motivated individuals," Blahous wrote in the book, "Reforming Social Security: For Ourselves and Our Posterity."
Graham, while pressing the private-account idea, said he thought an effective overhaul plan for Social Security without some unpleasant consequences would be impossible.
"If you can find one, sign me up," he said.
