Martin And Lewis, They're Not

Two very rich people give the rest of us advice on retirement. "(L)ike a vaudeville team, they kept stepping on each other's lines and zinging each other." AP (07.22.05):

"Former first lady Barbara Bush teamed up with her son the president on Friday in trying to drum up support among older Americans for his Social Security and Medicare plans." Bush, Mom Pitch Social Security Overhaul

Here's an example of the comedic banter. Note the use of the words "tartly" and "retorted". "He called his 80-year-old mother 'my favorite senior citizen,' and she tartly reminded him that at age 59 he was almost one himself — with hair starting to turn white." 'You can see where I got my white hair from,' the president retorted." Bit of tension between mother and son, eh? She treats him with a lot of respect, too: "When Bush said he and his mother would go around the room to shake hands, she pointed to the right and told him, 'You go that way.'" "'She's still telling me what to do,' Bush said, going dutifully to the right." "'I'm here because I'm worried about our 17 grandchildren," said Barbara Bush.'" Same schtick back in March: "'I'm here because your father and I have 17 grandchildren ... all born after 1950 and we want to know: Is someone going to do something about it?' she said." Back then, the AP reminded us that "the grandchildren in the wealthy Bush family are unlikely to depend on Social Security in their sunset years and the monthly Social Security check collected by Mrs. Bush's husband, the former President Bush, is undoubtedly only a minuscule portion of their retirement income." And just how are the old boy's plans for Social Security faring these days? Uhhh, not well it would seem. Reuters (07.22.05):

"President Bush refused on Friday to back down from his push to restructure Social Security despite dimming prospects for action by the U.S. Congress this year and the toll it has taken on his popularity. Visiting an Atlanta civic center, Bush insisted 'something's going to happen' on Social Security." Bush says not backing down on Social Security

Something is happening: nothing. "House of Representatives Republicans have put off until at least September action on even a pared-down version of Bush's plan to create private investment accounts out of the Social Security retirement program." "Americans, especially senior citizens, are skittish about Bush's top domestic priority of changing Social Security and pollsters say the issue has contributed to a slide in Bush's approval ratings." "Senate Republicans, who disagree on whether to proceed in the face of firm Democratic opposition to Bush's private accounts idea, have had even less success than their House counterparts in moving forward with a plan." In the meantime, the last poll on it we could find was the CBS/NY Times poll taken from June 10-15, 2005. It showed 62% disapproved of the way Bush was handling Social Security, 25% approved, and 13% weren't sure.