Companies cheerlead for privatizing Social Security; ideas, and products, offered by investment...

Proponents of privatization have been invigorated by President Bush's campaign proposal that workers be allowed to set up private accounts with their Social Security payroll taxes. At a recent Washington program, a number of investment companies offered their ideas for accomplishing that task -- touting some of their products in the process.

The program, "Privatizing Social Security: Beyond the Theory," was sponsored by the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank that has done a lot of work on the issue over the past several years.

The fact that Social Sec