Last year, fiscal 2001, Social Security took in an extra $98.7 billion. A surplus that was taken by Congress and the Administration and spent elsewhere, as usual, and as fast as the money came in. Senator Daschle has no intention of giving up this slush fund.

Instead, his add-on account idea would increase payroll taxes so the working man can have something invested in the stock market. These would be investment accounts in which Senator Daschle expects people who are already struggling to make ends meet to voluntarily participate. As the leader of the supposed "party of the people" put it:

"I support private accounts to supplement—but not replace—Social Security. But to create private accounts with revenues that drain Social Security will only hasten the day when the system becomes insolvent. We don't have to choose between private accounts and a healthy Social Security system. We need both, and we can have both. What we cannot afford is to weaken this vital program at the time when America needs it most."

A statement like this is surprising for several reasons. First and foremost, it has always been the position of politicians who oppose Bush's partial privatization plan that investment in the stock market is too risky. Lately, they've been drawing comparisons of the Enron bankruptcy and the disaster that could happen to private accounts.

With the government stealing $98.7 billion from payroll taxes last year, spending that money on pork-barrel giveaways, then awarding us bogus bonds that put us 100 percent in the hole—Daschle wants us to believe his plan is better. We would still go further into that dark hole with this year's surplus and interest added from last year, but we would have add-on accounts that might actually gain something positive, if people participate.

Enron stock has certainly fallen, but it's still yielding 67 cents per share—and that's better than being 130 percent or more in the hole. For all the extra hundreds of billions we've given the government since 1983, we currently stand $1.175 trillion in debt with the Social Security debit black hole account that the government calls a "trust fund" now 20 percent of the national debt. I'll take the 67 cents any day.

Secondly, the opponents of privatization have always argued that private accounts would be too difficult and expensive to manage. Apparently, Mr. Daschle has given up this argument even though it was always invalid. How much does it cost to set up a real trust fund just as they have done with their own Thrift Savings Plan? How easily could this have been done for Social Security surpluses years ago, even when Mr. Daschle's party was in power?

Thirdly, I think you will find that in countries like Chile where "voluntary" options were given workers only the higher-ups took advantage of them. The people at the bottom and mid-level incomes did not participate. Where is Senator Daschle leading his party and how does this fit with the democrat accusations that republicans support the wealthy?