Daily Briefing: From "Flat Bust" to "Safety Net"

•Social Security overhaul, as currently proposed, appears unlikely to pass Senate vote. [ WP ]

•Administration joins EU to offer economic incentives for Iran.Rice: "I think we're really coming to a common view of how to proceed." [ WP , WSJ ]

• Greenspan: "Our fiscal prospects are, in my judgment, a significant obstacle to long-term stability." [ WSJ , WP ]

•Senators disappointed by lack of blame, accountability in report on detainee abuse.Warner: "There has not been a finality in terms of the assessment of accountability of either senior policy people or senior officers." [ WP , NYT , USAT ]

• Bushdedicates time to shoring up Republican support.Emanuel: "His burden is not persuading Democrats, but people in his own party who have walked away from the idea that we're going to pull money out of Social Security, run up $2 trillion in debt and, by the way, cut benefits by 40 percent." [ NYT , LAT , WT , WT ]

• Bushrefers to Social Security as "safety net," stops use of "crisis," "flat bust."Bush: "Well, I'm going to keep telling people we've got a problem until it sinks in." [ USAT ]

• Hughesannounces return toBush's inner circle, does not returnWP's calls or emails. [ WP ]

•Bankruptcy bill passes Senate, 74 to 25. [ WP , WSJ , WT ]

•On Medicaid, Senators caught between governors andBush.Coleman: "There is widespread concern about what is being asked in the nature of these cuts." [ NYT ]

• Clintonrecovering from successful four-hour operation on lung. [ WP , NYT , USAT ]

•National Association of Evangelicals, 30-million strong, begins drafting platform beyond abortion and gay marriage. [ NYT , WT ]

• Ricewarms to Mexico. [ WP , NYT ]

•Liberal Democrats bothered by party divisions.Harkin: "This is not where we as Democrats ought to be, for crying out loud." [ NYT ]

•House approves $284b transportation bill, 417-9, in spite of threat of White House veto. [ WP , WSJ , NYT , LAT ]