Senator Bob Bennett of Utah is introducing a reform bill without personal accounts, and the White House is blessing his effort–the administration line is that if the accounts were the reason Democrats couldn’t come to the table, they have now been deprived of that excuse. But the administration is simultaneously insisting that it is still committed to the accounts, and other Republican senators are going to introduce a bill to invest the Social Security surplus in personal accounts. All this legislative activity is, of course, a result of the failure of previous efforts. It’s probably a good idea to try something different, but at this point it’s hard to see how the president can succeed.