The Washington Post's Mike Allen writes in today's paper that the Democrats are making a concerted effort to convince the American people that Social Security is not facing a "crisis." He writes,

Democratic Party leaders are urging members to discuss future Social Security shortfalls as a "challenge" rather than a crisis, and assert that Bush is trying to manufacture a crisis to justify making changes that many Democrats say are unnecessary.

Now a powerful Republican -- whose support is essential to passage of any Social Security reform bill (including the President's bid to dismantle and privatize the program) -- has come to the aid of the Democrats in this game of semantics. Reuters Adam Entous reports:

A top Republican lawmaker on Social Security issues on Sunday called the retirement system's finances a "problem" rather than a crisis, distancing himself from the crisis terminology used by the White House in seeking public support for private accounts.

"I think 'problem' really is what we're dealing with," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas told NBC's "Meet the Press," when asked if he agreed with the assessment of President Bush and other top administration officials that the system was in "crisis."

Republicans are jumping ship left and right on this issue as they do not want to risk losing their control of Congress due to a botched attempt at privatization of Social Security. The plan is not yet dead, but its chances of being enacted are decreasing every day.