What if we simply get the federal government out of the pension business altogether and say that if your private savings do not provide enough income to live on in retirement, the government will make up the difference up to the poverty line with what would essentially be an AFDC/TANF program but with no time limits or work requirements or other strings attached?
That would almost certainly be a more effective use of funds than the current setup but folks would claim it is privatizing social security and would never pass.
