Two of Mr. Bush's top economic priorities -- a transformation of Social Security and the tax code -- have already pitted him against powerful interest groups that were key supporters of earlier policies, the Washington Post reports. 

By tackling these two areas at the same time he wants to change the nation's rules for medical malpractice lawsuits, Mr. Bush risks setting off an avalanche of resistance within influential Washington. 

"No one has ever tried to do as many of these at once, and he will be very lucky if he achieves just one of his goals, let alone all of them," Marshall Wittmann, a former Republican congressional staffer who now works at the pro-business Democratic Leadership Council, tells the Post. 

Still, Mr. Bush has among his backers other powerful business lobbies, as well as a presidential pulpit strengthened by his re-election.
The touchiest area of his agenda is the partial privatization of Social Security, and the Los Angeles Times says it could be months before the president and Congress agree on how to restructure the retirement program. 

Some analysts expect Mr. Bush to provide just the basic principles and leave the details to Congress, the Times says. Social Security will be the topic of one of the two sessions Mr. Bush plans to attend at the two-day conference, The Wall Street Journal notes. 

And the topic of the other session -- changes to the U.S. tort system -- is one of two areas where congressional Republicans hope to make headway after years of seeing much of their agenda thwarted, the Journal says. 

Drilling for petroleum in the Alaska wildlife refuge is the other.