Personal Lock Boxes

The public is anxious about President Bush's reform of Social Security, and the idea is in trouble. Ceaseless pounding by liberals has driven many Republicans into a defensive crouch. It's time for some political jujitsu that will instead focus the public's attention on stopping Congress from spending the extra payroll taxes now flowing into Social Security on anything else. The only effective way to prevent that would be to take the money off the table by starting personal Social Security accounts for every American who wanted one.

That's why the White House should embrace an idea that three GOP senators will propose tomorrow. They want to seize back the moral and political offensive on the issue of personal accounts. By proposing the creation of personal "lockboxes" to ensure that the government can't raid Social Security taxes for other programs, they would force opponents to cast a vote against the idea that individuals should have ownership and control over some of their own retirement funds....

Saving the Surplus: Three senators embrace the "personal lockbox" to reform Social Security by John Fund