Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with two first-rate staff members of the White House fiscal commission who were seeking creative ideas for restoring Social Security solvency.

The gist of my message to them was the same I gave in "A Well-Tailored Safety Net,"� a new book that does not reflect the editorial view of IBD.

While politics is surely the biggest hurdle to Social Security reform, a menu of mostly flawed and regressive policy options has further raised the bar. If you carefully consider four critical goals of Social Security reform, it is clear that the policy options that have been kicked around for years are ill-suited to producing an affordable and effective safety net.

Both political and policy concerns should point the...