It's looking increasingly unlikely that the Republicans will be able to force a bill privatizing Social Security down the throats of the Democrats. As The Hill's Hans Nichols reports, the Democrats might already have the votes in the House to block the measure (they most likely have the votes in the Senate to do so as well).

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) waded into Republican territory yesterday, releasing a whip count of 29 Republicans he says are on record opposing “all or major parts of President Bush’s plan” for Social Security reform.

Given the GOP’s 14-vote margin in the House, Hoyer reasons that Republicans will need to initiate a more serious conversation with Democrats if they are nursing any hopes of passing a plan this session.

Hoyer’s cross-aisle whipping is indicative of the Democrats’ swelling confidence that the Social Security debate cuts in their favor and tracks with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel’s (D-Ill.) strategy. He has been attempting to brand vulnerable GOP lawmakers who appear open to the president’s proposal, despite their stated opposition to privatization, as “flip-floppers.”

In the words of the inimitable House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA), the President's plan is "a dead horse."