Bush: 'I'm worried about gasoline prices'

Insana: By the same token, only -- according to an NBC News poll, only 32 percent of Republicans support personal savings account and the type of reform that you're proposing. How do you get popular support and congressional support to get this passed?

President Bush: Well, I -- Look, I mean, all due respect to surveys, I've seen, you know, all kinds of answers in surveys, and you can pretty much figure out, you know, what you want to read in surveys. I think most people, when they understand that the government will allow you your choice, your option to set aside some of your money so you can earn a better rate of return than the current system does, will make that choice. And that's all I'm asking Congress, is to make the choice available.

See, I don't think most people -- or, I'm sure they do by now; I hope they do -- a lot of people think there's a Social Security trust, that we take your money, you've worked hard, you pay your payroll taxes, the government collects your money and holds it for you so that when you retire, we just simply give you back your money. That's not how it works. You pay into the system your payroll taxes, the money goes out to pay beneficiaries, and with money left over, the federal government spends it on general programs. So that all that is left behind are a series of file cabinets with IOUs in it. I've seen the IOUs first-hand, by the way, in West Virginia. So there's no real assets in the system. There's paper promises. And what I think we ought to do is to, you know, permanent fix the system and give younger workers the opportunity to build real assets.

Insana: With the size of the budget deficit where it is right now, though, can the U.S. afford the transitional costs, which are estimated to be $750 billion to $2 trillion over a 10-year period. Can you do it?

President Bush: Well, just remember, now, we've got a $11 trillion unfunded liability. So we do already have a liability. And the question is can we, you know, pay for that liability in a smarter way. In other words, the people listening to this program have got to understand the government is committed to $11 trillion, and it's unfunded. And so the fundamental question is can we fund the program in a smarter way. And the longer we wait to come up with a solution, the more drastic the ultimate solution will be. And so now is the time to get something done.

Insana: Now, Medicare is six times the unfunded liability --

President Bush: Yeah.

Insana: -- of Social Security. Why do Social Security first?

President Bush: Well, one of the things is we've just reformed the Medicare system and I think it's important to let those reforms take in -- take hold. We have a Medicare system now which provides preventative screenings for the first time ever, and hopefully that will help save lives and save costs. We've introduced competition to the system. Poor seniors will be able to get drug coverage. In other words, there are some things that are in the new Medicare bill that will hopefully mitigate some of the unfunded liabilities. But no question, we're going to have to deal with the same math that affects Social Security, affects Medicare. Baby boomers retiring, being promised their benefits, with fewer people paying for them.

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