Protesters Greet President During Visit To Tout Social Security [View All]

[ailsagirl]

Mar 10, 2005, 6:20 PM

(LOUISVILLE) -- President Bush promoted his overhaul of Social Security to a mostly friendly audience on Thursday while protesters a few blocks away railed against the central part of his plan -- allowing workers to create private investment accounts.

Bush focused on the long-term solvency of the Depression-era retirement system while speaking to a town hall-style gathering at The Kentucky Center.

"We need to solve this issue now and forever," Bush told the Louisville audience. "The longer we wait the worse it gets to solve it."

Bush was joined on stage by two sets of grandfathers-granddaughters who worried about the long-term viability of Social Security.

Rebecca Dean, a 22-year-old University of Louisville senior, told Bush she liked the idea of being able to divert a portion of her Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts that could be invested in stocks and bonds.

"I may have the opportunity to see money that's already being deducted from my paycheck and be able to take ownership of it," she said.

Meanwhile, protesters in a downtown square waved signs and shouted slogans while denouncing Bush's plan as a "risky scheme" that would saddle the nation with trillions of dollars in additional debt without fixing Social Security's long term financial problems.

http://www.wave3.com/global/story.asp?s=3059408&ClientType=Printable