The only possible alternative plan the Democrats could put forward would be to increase the extent of Social Security pre-funding. In principle pre-funding, as epitomized by the '83 reform, is a good idea. In practice, the '83 reform was part of an elaborate 22 year-long boondoggle to decrease taxes on the wealthy, increase taxes on the poor, and gut Social Security. At some point in the future, the GOP may regain enough credibility on this issue to make the concept worth revisiting. That point is not now. The only policy objective related to changing Social Security that Democrats really need to be pushing is increasing General Fund revenue so that the last round of pre-funding can be implemented as Ronald Reagan promised it would be.
Indeed, and it isn't just the Republicans. There are many in the "respectable" media (cough, Tim Russert, cough), who fret about "solvency" while simultaneously poo-pooing the reality of the trust fund. Pre-funding is just a scam to add a regressive tax unless the players acknowledge that the trust fund is "real."
Again, this kind of doubletalk is expected from politicians. It's pathetic when it comes from supposedly neutral media types.