Protesters Greet President During Visit To Tout Social Security

[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

[murielm99]

1. Don't we have a DUer who attended this event?

I hope he reports back to us.

[sally343434]

2. Thanks for being worse than worthless, state media

Why don't they harp on the fact that these are entirely staged and scripted performances, all paid for by the very taxpayers who are having their future security dismantled by this criminal cabal?

A rhetorical question, I know.

[ailsagirl]

3. Wonder what the point is in playing to "friendly" audiences??

After all, they're FOR his f**ked up plan. Seems a waste of time. AND taxpayers' money.

Maybe it's to shore up the Chimp's confidence???

[sally343434]

5. It's the same thinking they used in the campaign

The thinking is that if they create a fake image of "wild enthusiasm" by, essentially, hiring actors to fill the audience and ask scripted questions, the local media will broadcast it as a "news" piece and the morans who are glued to their TEE-VEE will think, "Golly! They all like it, so it must be good!"

That's how it worked during the campaign, when Bush events were all closed to the public. They're using the same method here.

[WatchWhatISay]

4. Sorry Rebecca, but the way things are going

You'll be really lucky if you have a job much longer. Tell Mom and Dad not to remodel your bedroom into a hobby room yet. You may need to go back home soon, because its just too tough to pay rent, car payments, insurance and health care care costs on that teensy paycheck/unemployement check you might soon be living off of.

hey, I wonder if they'll let you put a percentage of your unemployment check into private accounts.

Meanwhile, as long as you still do have a job, you might want to start the same kinds of private retirement accounts my 26 year old son has. They are tax deductible and they are called IRAs/ 401Ks.

[Moderator]

6. ailsagirl

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[ailsagirl]

7. Sorry!! I did notice there were more than four but, since they

weren't paragraphs per se (just a bunch of sentences with spaces in between them), I thought that it wasn't applicable.

I'll be mindful of that in future.

Thanks

:-)