"Privatization Tax," huh?

Doesn't sound like a good deal to me:

Examples of how the privatization tax will work:

- If an individual's account earns the average rate of return (4.6 percent above inflation), they are still going to have to give back 70 percent of the account.

- If an individual's account earns 3 percent above inflation, which is the risk-adjusted rate of return assumed by CBO, they would have to give back your entire earnings.

"The promise of 'ownership' under the President's privatization plan is an empty one," said [NJ Sen Jon] Corzine. "In fact, under the administration's proposal, the government would effectively lend you money and then ask you to pay it back with interest. That's not ownership and it sure doesn't sound like much of a nest egg to me. The president's proposal to cut guaranteed benefits in favor of individual bets on the market strikes at the very core of Social Security's promise - that it's a rock solid guarantee which will be there when you need it the most. Those who disagree with Social Security's promise have a right to call for the program's repeal. But they shouldn't pretend that privatization promises security for America's seniors. It doesn't."