Social Security privatization: Toast?

The other day I ran into one of America's most venerated political writers and I asked about the status of Bush's Social Security plan.

"Toast," he said. "Toast!"

I believe him. But it's possible that privatization still has some life in it. I called my friend M, who knows the Hill better than anyone, and he noted that the private sector is about to launch a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign in support of private S.S. accounts. M doesn't think anyone should underestimate the political skill of the Bush camp: "If they can turn John Kerry from a decorated war hero into a sniveling wimp, they can turn private accounts into a good idea."

Sure costs a lot, though, even if those costs are just "transitional." A trillion here, a trillion there, you're starting to talk about real money. The killer for Bush is that his plan doesn't actually address the long-term fiscal problems in the entitlement programs. Politically it sure looks like Hillary's Health Care at the moment.

The venerated one says Bush will now stick with foreign policy.