AC

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan has argued for an overhaul of the federal Social Security program that would include private retirement accounts, but there is little indication that his running mate, Mitt Romney, will embrace Ryan's plan in full if elected in November. As a House member during the George W. Bush administration, Ryan was one of the chief proponents of changing the federal pension program to allow workers to invest part of their income into private investment accounts, while retaining the current safety net currently available to retirees. In 2004, Ryan sponsored a bill with New Hampshire Republican Sen. John Sununu that would give workers the option to invest part of their payroll taxes into private accounts. Bush embraced a watered-down version of the plan, but it ultimately failed in Congress. But while Social Security has been one of Ryan's key issues for several years, Romney has not made transforming the program a central part of his campaign. The...