Social Security Plans Need Help From Vanishing Centrist Dems; Several key Democrats liked personal accounts; few remain in Congress.(A)

Byline: JED GRAHAM

A few years back, an administration-appointed advisory panel on Social Security delivered a unanimous opinion that the retirement program's pay-as-you-go approach had to be changed.

While the panel didn't agree on any single reform plan, it offered three ideas for making Social Security more sustainable in the long run. All of them involved investing Social Security funds partially in stocks as a way to meet future commitments without breaking the bank.

The year was 1997, and the panel was appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.

The same words could have been written about the Social Security commission appointed by President Bush in 2001.

Giving workers ownership of some of their retirement money and a chance to benefit from investing was just a Republican idea in the past. But that's easy to forget after four years of Democrats railing against Bush …