The Cato Institute reveals that support for individual social security accounts not an unpopular idea:

A majority of Americans agree that younger workers should be allowed to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in individual accounts, according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International for the Cato Institute.

Despite a drumbeat of criticism for weeks by congressional Democrats and a concerted public relations campaign by powerful interest groups such as the AARP against Social Security choice, 51 percent of those polled by Zogby support the introduction of individual accounts. Only 39 percent opposed individual accounts being part of any Social Security reform.

With the results of this poll, expect those drumbeats to increase in volume and tempo.

The age breakdowns show the expected trends with support inversely proportional to age:

Not surprisingly, the results showed a split along age lines, with younger voters (61 percent among those under 30, 58 percent of those under 50) strongly in favor of individual accounts, while those over 65 were opposed (55 percent against). However, opposition by seniors dropped to just 45 percent if they were assured that their own benefits would not be affected.

Personally, I like the individual accounts because they make a portion of the contributions inaccessable to the legislature. Think of it as 180 million tiny Goresque lockboxes.