RANCHO MIRAGE - This is Republican Country - where Democrats are outnumbered by roughly two-to-one.

This isn't where you'd expect to see 400 senior citizens clapping for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a veteran Democrat with 13 years under her belt, on her politics, while she criticizes a Republican program.

with the Bush administration's efforts to overhaul this New Deal-era social program for retirees.

Over 1,800 miles away in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, President Bush was on the stump for his proposals - telling a radio audience that there would be a "political price" for lawmakers who did not get on board with his privatization plan for the program.

But the 71-year-old Feinstein - with the backing of retiree advocacy organization AARP - chose to deliver her first major public policy address at a town hall meeting on what she thinks should be done to get the Social Security system off life support.

"There is no immediate financial crisis," said Feinstein on Wednesday, in remarks to the crowd of seniors invited to hear her speak at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center.

At the cornerstone of her address was a proposal to form a bipartisan "assessment commission" that would periodically review potential fiscal issues, and then make recommendations to keep the massive system actuarially sound.

The proposed commission would explore these issues:

Ensure an adequate benefit structure is in place for all retirees. The system would be evaluated periodically by appointees from the president and Congress, and make recommendations on how to correct potential fiscal weaknesses.

There would be an actuarial snapshot taken of the system every five to 10 years, according to Feinstein.

Various options would be explored to determine ways to make the system fiscally sound over the long term. These might include raising the cap on what percentage of earnings would be paid into Social Security.

The current cap paid to Social Security is 6.2 percent of wages up to $90,000. But increasing that cap to, for instance, $140,000 would funnel enough money into the system to put it on solid ground, some experts say.

Other options might include adjustments in cost-of-living increases for retirees, or raising the retirement age.

Feinstein, criticizing Bush's plan, said that changing Social Security from a "guaranteed benefit" is a "guaranteed gamble."

"Privatizing needs to be taken off the table," declared Feinstein to boisterous applause from the crowd. "Until that happens, we'll only see an ideological debate."

Jeanne Clark, a 73-year-old widow from Palm Desert, was praised by Feinstein for her efforts to juggle medical bills left by her deceased husband while working part time for Riverside County's Department of Aging.

"Let's try to keep things the way they are," Clark said.

After the hourlong meeting, some retirees solidly backed Feinstein's message.

"I liked her position of not backing private accounts," said 68-year-old Carol Mann of La Quinta. "I also liked her proposal to keep things in balance with her proposal to create a nonpartisan commission.

"I'm glad she is doing this with Bush out there with his message," she said.

Hugh Donaldson, a 68-year-old Palm Springs resident, also supported Feinstein's proposal to create a special commission.

"If you make adjustments as you go along, that's a good idea. I'd rather it be done this way than what Bush wants to do in knocking it apart," Donaldson said.

He is opposed to Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security through up to $2 trillion in borrowings.

"Young people aren't qualified to do investing - unless it's controlled," he said.

In her discussion on the topic with the Rancho Mirage audience, Feinstein said, "Those behind efforts to privatize want to eviscerate the Social Security system."

Overall changes to the system are especially bad at this time, given corporate America's continued outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and major cuts in pension offerings to its workers, she said. These double-whammies are hurting contributions into the Social Security system as well, Feinstein pointed out.