Social Security quick links

I've got to get up early tomorrow, so here goes.

Gallup releases new poll numbers on public support for Bush's plan that look almost exactly like the numbers from December. Two months or "crisis" speeches here and "private accounts" there have done nothing in terms of swaying the people.

Still, Bush soldiers on with a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday. And just in time for his planned arrival:

A typical 20-year-old North Carolinian will lose $152,000 during retirement if the president's Social Security privatization plan is enacted, according to a report released today by the Institute for America's Future. It would also mean a 15 percent benefit cut for a 45-year-old worker today and a 25 percent benefit cut for a 35- year-old worker in North Carolina.

Also, local news media is taking note that this trip is to woo fellow Republicans rather than Democrats:

In picking North Carolina for his visit, Bush chooses a state that voted for him twice.

He picks a state where the two Republican senators support his wishes to change what some consider the country's most sacred public program.

But he picks a state where five of the seven Republican U.S. House members are lukewarm on the idea -- at best.

Only Reps. Sue Myrick of Charlotte and Patrick McHenry of Cherryville favor the accounts.

The others? Not sure. They are getting mail and calls from people who are worried about Social Security, especially the 900,000 members of the state AARP, most of whom worry that change would mean reduced benefits.

Clearly a sign that the Bush plan is in trouble.

Finally, I'm not sure who Jon Talton is, but he's got a good piece on privatization in the Arizona Republic. Give it a read.