It seems that talk of privitazing comes at market tops. OK, only 1 data point :) But I didn't hear a lot about this in 2001 or 2002.
I might misunderstand the process. Current workers pay in to a pool, retired workers drain the pool. The government decided to borrow some water pouring into to pool, as it was full enough for the retired swimmers. That $$ may or may not be paid back. What if the excess was used to buy a distribution of 2-10 year (and 30 year when available) paper? The government would then need to show some discipline to balance the books without the SS smoke & mirrors. There would be a (hopefully) guaranteed return of the $$ with an extension of time until the pool started evaporating.
OTOH, it's a way to get some jobs created, administering the thing, even if it's off shore.