The legislative process is about compromise, former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) reminded me when we talked about the future of Social Security the other day. And productive compromise, according to Rosty, means putting “a little sugar in with the vinegar.”

Rostenkowski said Democrats — who don’t want to deal until President Bush budges on his call for individual investment accounts — need their own Social Security program. Bush should take his plan for personal, or private, accounts off the table and call the Democrats’ bluff.

“You know what I would do if I were the president? I’d take it off the table and say, ‘OK, come up with something.’ And the Democrats would be frightened as hell.”

Rosty brought up Social Security when he ran into Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) the other day at Gene & Georgetti, an Italian steakhouse in Chicago. In an interview for my Chicago Sun-Times column (www.suntimes.com), Rosty said he told Emanuel, “You’ve got to come up with a program. You’ve got to show some gumption.”

Emanuel represents the district once owned by Rosty, and Emanuel joined the Ways and Means Committee this session. Emanuel, with a package of bills aimed at increasing the nations savings rate, said he told Rosty, “Mr. Chairman, as you know, we have a number of ideas on retirement security.”

Other observations from the former chairman:

• Congress agreed to raising the retirement age in 1983 and making other changes in Social Security partly because the leaders “made a deal about not having this in a campaign.” Rosty said lawmakers should be open once again to raising the retirement age.

• That discipline was possible then “because we had organizational politics. Today, everybody is an independent contractor.” Rosty et al. also did not have to contend with well-funded outside interest groups running TV, print and Internet single-issue campaigns.

• Rosty is not a fan of Bush’s investment accounts. “Personally, I think it is the silliest goddamn thing in the world.”

• House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) “is a legislator and wants to solve the problem, but he has to keep an eye on his right wing all the time.”

• During his time, Rosty, “[then-Minority Leader] Bob Michel [R-Ill.] and [Speaker] Tip O’Neill [D-Mass.] used to play golf all the time.” How did that change the legislative equation? When leaders like each other, it means, “I think we were willing to compromise.”

Hastert and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have little to no personal relationship, which adds to the partisan atmosphere of the House.

Hastert doings. Hastert on Sunday attends the graduation of his youngest son, Ethan, from Northwestern University’s law school in Chicago. Ethan Hastert worked a stint as an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff before starting at NU.

Hastert, who usually targets only House races, helped at a recent funder for Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.). He was returning a favor. Dole traveled to Illinois a few years ago to be the draw at a funder Hastert hosted in his district.

Hoyer hustle. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House Democratic whip, hit Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago in past weeks for funders, edit-board meetings and candidate-recruitment chores. May’s political travel will take Hoyer to Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle and Boise, Idaho.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it