The real retirement solution...

Okay, so Bush has now admitted that his private account proposal has nothing with increasing Social Security's long-term solvency. His argument, essentially, is that it helps people and gives them more "choice."

I've really been delighted at how the real facts on Social Security, how it works, and how changes would affect it, are now really being discussed instead of letting RNC/Cato Institute sloganeering set the terms. In fact, there's little I can add to all the good arguments our side has raised.

Except One.

Doesn't anyone remember Al Gore's Retirement Savings Plus" plan? (See here and here.)

Gore had it right, and no one listened.

Instead of Bush's "carve-out" option, Gore proposed an "add-on" proposal that would work much more like a 401K plan than anything Bush has proposed.

Bush dismissed it with "we can't afford it" during the debates. But Gore's plan would have cost the government a fraction of what Bush's vastly upper income cuts have cost us, and it all would have added to our nation's savings. The greatest danger it posed was that if a lot of people signed up, the cost would rise. But of course, the government's expenses would be in the matching funds, which acted as an incentive. The matching funds could be scaled back if the program proved popular enough, and still leave people better off.

Best of all, Gore really targeted the middle and lower income people who needed to save.

This plan was so ignored, I doubt even most Gore supporters knew about it. Googling Gore "retirement savings plus" turned up mostly derisive dismissals, which consisted of "this is just an imitation of Bush's plan" (It was anything but) and "we can't afford it." (compared to what Bush has done, it's a bargain.

I really hope to see this plan come up again. It's what we really need.