Paul Ryan's risky scheme

The New York Times called it "a sketchy proposal" to change Social Security.

USA Today's editorial called it "a shell game" and said that "for every one part substance, the plan contains nine parts gimmick."

Another USA Today story said it was a victory for the "free lunch bunch" in the Republican Congress. "You must eat your spinach before having dessert, and this plan only offers dessert: the personal retirement accounts," Rep Jim Kolbe , an Arizona Republican, said.

". . . critics say there is not enough money to make the plan viable," The Washington Post reported. " About 130 million Americans who pay into Social Security and are under 55 would be entitled to personal accounts. Excluding interest owed on borrowed Social Security funds, the cash surplus from Social Security taxes this year will leave enough for an average of $434 available for each account."

But Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is one of the sponsors of this half-baked scheme, accentuates the positive in an opinion column, also in USA Today. (Was there anything but Social Security news in the paper on Thursday?)

It's all about using the Social Security surplus only for Social Security, Ryan says, and not using it to plug other budget holes or deficits. The money will be safely invested in Treasury bonds, Ryan says. Maybe, just to be doubly sure, those bonds could be put into Al Gore's Social Security lockbox.

Ryan at least is out front on this issue and willing to take some risk and some heat. Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Green, the Green Bay Republican who's busy running for governor, hasn't heard yet that Social Security is under discussion this year. Green has had not a word to say.