The entire fiscal landscape has been transformed in the last week, ... The entire Republican agenda of tax cuts, Social Security reform and big spending on pet Republican projects is over. Events do eventually have an impact on Capitol Hill.

I think we should worry about Social Security first and then tax cuts second.

His [President George W. Bush} two greatest priorities are permanent tax cuts and Social Security. And somehow just by coincidence the real bite of those programs, which make the deficit even worse than it is, don't occur until 2009, starting when the president leaves office.

By using Social Security trust fund dollars to pay for tax cuts and other government spending, the administration significantly understates the true fiscal imbalance of the country.

The major impact of Sept. 11 on privatization is the disappearance of the Social Security surplus, ... Before the attacks, it was questionable whether we had enough money available to pay for the transition to privatization. This makes the issue even more difficult.

Until the president and the Republican leadership agree that their misguided attempt to privatize Social Security is over and they will no longer pursue their previously announced bait-and-switch strategy, Democrats will continue to refuse to enter negotiations over Social Security,