WASHINGTON — Just as President Bush's Social Security overhaul seems to be staggering under its own political weight, one powerful House Republican is taking a contrarian's approach to saving it: Pile on a heavier load.
House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) is trying to breathe new life into the Social Security debate by marrying it to a plethora of other contentious issues, among them rewriting the tax code, financing long-term healthcare and shoring up private pensions.
The strategy is vintage Thomas: No one ever accused the brainy but irascible chairman of thinking too small, or of having too little self-confidence to swing for the fences.
"If you are going to be looking at Social Security, how can you not look at these other areas that are crying out for adjustment because the population is aging and the entire retirement structure needs to be rethought?" Thomas said in an interview.
The breadth of his ambition will be in full view when he mounts a hearing Thursday that will address not just Social Security, but other issues related to the "challenges and opportunities of our aging society."
Thomas has a record of rescuing difficult legislation using similar tactics. He has been willing to strike out in a different direction from the Bush administration and has a knack for building coalitions by broadening the scope of legislation.
Thomas helped pass the 2003 economic stimulus package by radically changing Bush's signature proposal to eliminate the tax on dividends. He carried a troubled corporate tax bill over the finish line in 2004 by adding special-interest provisions, including a bailout for tobacco farmers.
"If I were an oddsmaker, I would never bet against Bill Thomas, because he has never lost," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
But even some admirers say Thomas may have finally met his match in the debate over Bush's proposal to overhaul Social Security. As part of that proposal, the president wants to allow younger workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into individual savings accounts, in return for giving up a part of their traditional Social Security benefits.
Unlike the other bills Thomas has navigated around land mines -- including four Bush tax cuts and a major trade bill -- the overhaul of Social Security has not picked up a shred of Democratic support. Social Security is an issue about which Democrats feel so strongly that there may be nothing to tempt them to swallow individual accounts.
