Long-range costs?

In How to mend Social Security, an editorial for subscribers only, The Economist cautions Bush,

...in his focus on Social Security he must not lose sight of the overall fiscal challenge—and the role his own policies have played in it. The long-term burden of Mr Bush's first-term tax cuts and spending increases is three times bigger than the looming Social Security shortfall. Pension reform is desirable; but it will not solve America's long-term fiscal problems, and if its political price is an out-of-control budget, that would be a serious mistake.

While concerned about long-term fiscal problems in general and Social Security problems in particular, they also finally come out in favor of his Social Security reforms:

From the retirees' point of view, the "carve-out" that diverts money from Social Security to the private accounts, so hated by Democrats, is a good idea. It will lessen dependence on government and may encourage people to save more. There is no reason to believe the horror stories that Wall Street is about to fleece helpless savers: learning from other privatisations overseas, Mr Bush's people want the new retirement accounts to be managed in a way that will keep costs low...

Giving people greater control of their savings is desirable in itself: that is why private accounts deserve their place in this reform. It is wrong that in the world's most advanced economy so many retirees should rely so heavily on the state. That idea is at the heart of Mr Bush's "ownership society"—and it is worth supporting.

Meanwhile, as Jonathan Weisman and Peter Baker write, After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon

For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.

Congress and the White House have become adept at passing legislation with hidden long-term price tags, but those huge costs began coming into view in Bush's latest spending plan. Even if Bush succeeds in slashing the deficit in half in four years, as he has pledged, his major policy prescriptions would leave his successor with massive financial commitments that begin rising dramatically the year he relinquishes the White House, according to an analysis of new budget figures.