Beware privatizers with gifts.

The intent is the same as it ever was: Undermine Social Security, break the strong coalition built between the generations and turn it into a new welfare program.

And we know what happens to welfare programs when money gets tight; just look at what President Bush and his congressional allies would like to do to Medicaid funding and food stamps.

Several Republicans are reaching out to Democrats seeking a compromise that would allow the president to salvage some type of Social Security “reform.” They’re offering to raise the payroll tax on those who earn more than $90,000. They have offered to cut benefits on the wealthiest retirees while leaving the benefits for lower-income retirees alone. They’ve offered just about everything except taking carve-out accounts out of the plan.

Their goal remains: Peel away from Social Security part of the payroll taxes the program depends upon. Once they reduce the program’s funding mechanics, Social Security’s solvency turns from a problem into a real crisis, which shouldn’t be confused with the overblown rhetoric being used to try and sell the president’s plan. As the president now admits, private accounts do nothing to improve Social Security’s solvency.

The public knows. A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken last weekend shows support for the president’s plan continues to slide, with only 35 percent saying they approve of his approach.

Democrats – and a good number of Republicans – who oppose the privatization of Social Security have been criticized for having a closed mind, for not considering the alternatives that are being put forward. But that’s only an attempt to try to reframe the debate.

There’s no harm in opposing a bad idea, and that’s what privatizing Social Security is. A bad idea.

Would a fervent opponent of abortion rights agree to a compromise that makes some abortions easier if others are made harder to obtain? Is same-sex marriage OK some of the time?

On some questions, the answer is either yes or no. That’s how it is with private accounts and Social Security. If you believe, as we do, that they would undermine the health of the social insurance program, radically alter its fundamentals and shift too much risk onto the individual, then there’s no reason to make a deal.