WASHINGTON -- The president made his pitch in a speech yesterday, closing a two-day White House economic conference that also reflected other items on his second-term agenda: extending his tax cuts indefinitely, simplifying the tax code, limiting civil lawsuits and jury awards, and cutting federal spending to rein in annual deficits. But his marquee item is the proposal to allow younger workers to divert some portion of their Social Security payroll taxes to individual retirement accounts.

In a signal of the fight ahead, an array of liberal and consumer groups led by the AFL-CIO, AARP, the NAACP, the National Organization of Women and other groups announced their alliance against his Social Security overhaul plan. They decried the estimated 10-year cost of as much as $2 trillion for the transition to private accounts, and said that Social Security's solvency could be ensured without a move that would benefit only the financial industry.

While Mr. Bush described the value of taxpayers owning their own accounts, he also acknowledged his plan won't give them total investment freedom: "People are not going to be allowed to take their own money for their retirement account and take it to Vegas to shoot dice." Instead, he said he has in mind something like the federal employees' Thrift Savings Plan, which allows investors to pick from a menu of index-based stock plans or one that invests in government-backed securities.

In part of his remarks meant to reach out to Democrats, Mr. Bush saluted former President Clinton's efforts to educate the public as to the need to change Social Security. "I have a responsibility to reach out to members of both political parties," he said.

Yet even some of the president's backers say his ground rules for overhauling Social Security make bipartisan cooperation all but impossible, especially given the bad blood that has built up in his first term. Mr. Bush restated yesterday that he wouldn't agree to any plan that raised payroll taxes to boost Social Security's finances and help fund private accounts, nor would he allow benefits for retirees or near-retirees to change.

While Mr. Bush didn't allude to it yesterday, the administration is considering borrowing for the transition to private accounts, despite current deficits. But borrowing is meeting resistance among Republicans, as well as Democrats. "I don't think you're going to get bipartisan support for it," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican who favors private accounts. He says he's in talks with several Senate Democrats on a plan to combine private accounts with cost-saving steps, raising revenues as well as shaving benefits -- not borrowing.
An analysis Mr. Graham sought from the Congressional Budget Office showed the increase in deficits if his private-accounts proposal is enacted, but financed with borrowing. By fiscal 2014, the deficit would exceed $700 billion that year.

Meanwhile, the latest consolidated financial statement for the U.S. government, issued yesterday, underscored that the current value of benefits, minus the expected revenues, promised over 75 years by the Medicare health-care program for seniors exceed those promised by Social Security: $24.62 trillion versus $12.56 trillion.