GWB had us all mobilized on fixing SocSec and then let it die. If his intent here is to get it fixed and have the necesary blame pinned on him, that is pretty noble. But I doubt very much that anything at all can be accomplished now that all of the House and 1/3 of the Senate is entering campaign mode. No Congresscritter is going to want to explain the pain that is coming. And no way privatizing which is the only hope of fixing it will be allowed to happen. Nope, our grandkids must decide that our quality of life falls below acceptable norms and give us the Terri treatment.
President Bush didn't let it die. Conservatives threw Bush to the wolves when the MSM started their "illegal immigration" media campaign in order to derail the Social Security issue. The liberals in the MSM played popular conservatism against the President on the immigration issue in order to kill general support for the President's other initiatives - from the WOT to Social Security reform... and it worked.
This is more about Medicare. Much of this projected shortfall is his own making due to the drugs for old people program.
I think Medicare is a bigger issue than Social Security. And I don’t think Bush’s drug plan helped Medicare. Looking at the report it appears Medicare and interest on debt are the biggest increases in future liabilities - with interest being the largest by far.