http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ack=1&cset=true
Obama slams Bush for linking accounts to blacks' life span
Social Security pitch `stunning,' he says
By Jeff Zeleny, Washington Bureau. Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published March 11, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday called President Bush's suggestion that African-Americans could reap greater rewards from overhauling Social Security a "stunning" argument that ignored the true health issues facing blacks in this country.
As the president launched a two-day tour through the South to build support for his controversial plan to revamp Social Security, Democrats challenged a White House assertion that blacks would particularly gain from Bush's proposed private retirement accounts because they have fewer years to collect benefits considering they die younger.
"It is puzzling to me that we are even having this debate about whether Social Security is good or not for African-Americans," said Obama, an Illinois Democrat. "I frankly found the statement that the president made somewhat offensive."
While Bush argued his case that the future of the Social Security program was in peril without substantial changes like creating private investment accounts, Senate Democratic leaders tapped Obama to rebut the argument about overhauling Social Security.
Before the president arrived in Montgomery, Ala., Obama, the only black member of the Senate, conducted satellite interviews there from Washington.
"There is no doubt a disparity in the lifetime opportunities between white America and black America," Obama said. "The notion that we would cynically use those disparities as a rationale for dismantling Social Security as opposed to talking about how are we going to close the health disparities gap that exists, and make sure that African-American life expectancy is as long as the rest of this nation ... is stunning to me."
The administration and conservative scholars have quietly suggested that blacks may be more inclined to support the Social Security changes because, on average, whites live to age 78 and blacks to 72. So blacks, after contributing to Social Security their whole lives, are more likely to die before collecting their fair share.
"African-American males die sooner than other males do, which means the system is inherently unfair to a certain group of people," Bush said this year at a forum on Social Security. "And that needs to be fixed."
The president campaigned in Louisville and Montgomery to try to ease anxiety among retirees and give political cover to Republican lawmakers facing voters in midterm elections. Bush did not use the African-American argument in either stop on Thursday.
Bush repeatedly has reassured those age 55 and over that the Social Security checks they receive, or look forward to getting, won't be touched.
Still, seniors--a group that votes in greater numbers than the nation's youth--are wary about what will happen to the 70-year-old government retirement system if lawmakers tinker with it.
Facing an uphill battle to enact changes, Republicans in Congress recently have begun to emphasize the solvency problems of Social Security over the controversial private retirement accounts.
On his road trip, Bush did too. But while he is focusing on solvency, the president is not letting up on his push for private accounts.
"I'm saying to members of the United States Congress, `Let's fix this system permanently--no Band-Aids,'" Bush said in Montgomery. "Woe be to the politician who doesn't come to the table and try to come up with a solution."
Full Version: Obama slams Bush on linking accts, black lifespans
Common Ground Common Sense > Issues that Affect Our Lives > Civil Rights and Civil Liberties > Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Archive
I say woe to the politician who goes to any table with Bush on SS.
QUOTE(marie @ Mar 11 2005, 05:00 PM)
I say woe to the politician who goes to any table with Bush on SS.
Really! Any Democrat who sits down with this guy on Social Security has had it, in my opinion. This is the make or break issue for the Democrats and anyone who caves might as well call him or herself a Republican, because that's what they'll be.
Bush is so used to getting his way that I just wish he would fail in the biggest possible way.
QUOTE
... Senate Democratic leaders tapped Obama to rebut the argument about overhauling Social Security.
Excellent move .. I love this guy!
If there was a real groundswell of support for this, they wouldn't need to stage these dog-and-pony shows.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar11.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar11.html
QUOTE
Social Security: On With the Show
President's 'Conversations' on Issue Are Carefully Orchestrated, Rehearsed
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 12, 2005; Page A03
MEMPHIS, March 11 -- It sounded as if all of Graceland were clamoring for President Bush's plan to restructure Social Security.
The mostly white audience in this mostly black southern city clapped wildly as Bush took what he called the "presidential roadshow" to its 14th state Friday. He was greeted like Elvis -- adoring fans hooting and hollering, and hanging on his every word.
The few dissenting voices in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts were quickly silenced or escorted out by security. One woman with a soft voice but firm opposition to Bush was asked to leave, even though her protests were barely audible beyond her section in the back corner of the auditorium. The carefully screened panelists spoke admiringly about Bush, his ideas, his "bold" leadership on Social Security.
If the presentations sound well rehearsed, it's because they often are. The guests at these "Oprah"-style conversations trumpet the very points Bush wants to make. Seniors on stage express confidence that Bush's plan to create private investment accounts would not eat into promised benefits, and the granddaughter of one spoke hopefully on Friday of a richer retirement if the president prevails.
These meticulously staged "conversations on Social Security," as they are called, replicate a strategy that Bush used to great effect on the campaign trail. But instead of appealing to his political base in hopes of driving up turnout, Bush this time is targeting a far narrower audience of swing voters in the Senate -- centrists who so far appear unswayed by the president's public salesmanship. And Democrats, led by their new party chairman, Howard Dean, have begun firing back, belittling the forums as rigged spectacles rather than true town hall meetings.
The White House follows a practiced formula for each of the meetings. First it picks a state in which generally it can pressure a lawmaker or two, and then it lines up panelists who will sing the praises of the president's plan. Finally, it loads the audience with Republicans and other supporters.
To help make its case, the White House recruits people such as Mark Darr, 31, an insurance agent from Benton, Ark., who joined the president on stage at a forum in Little Rock last month. In a subsequent interview, Darr said he believes he was chosen because he went to college with one son of Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and provided insurance for another.
After the governor's office called, Darr said, he began receiving one call after another from the White House, quizzing him on his thoughts on Social Security and his family history, just as they did all the other candidates. "I'm sure they wanted to . . . make sure they weren't going to embarrass the president," Darr said.
Not so his mother. At first when he mentioned that she receives Social Security, he said, White House aides seemed eager to add her to the panel. Then they called her. "She wasn't really for the private accounts, so they didn't decide to use her," Darr said.
The night before the event, the chosen participants gathered for a rehearsal in the hall in which the president would appear the next day. An official dispatched by the White House played the president and asked questions. "We ran through it five times before the president got there," Darr said.
Erma Fingers Hendrix, 74, a retired nurse who also participated in the Little Rock event, said she believes she was picked because she has been active for years in Republican women's clubs in Arkansas and campaigned for Bush in 2000 and 2004 -- once even introducing him at a campaign rally just before he was elected president. "The ones who contacted me in 2000 probably said, 'Erma's easy to work with,' " she said.
Hendrix said the administration official who helped them practice educated the panelists on the plan without scripting them.
"It was just a matter of learning," she said. "We just really talked about what was going on, what the president was proposing and what did we think about it. . . . They didn't prompt me what to say or how to say it."
Don Farnsworth, 74, a retired pilot and Air Force major, described a similar session before Thursday's event in Montgomery, Ala.
"They had a couple people on the staff come down and introduce us all," he recalled. "We all went into a small room, and they told us what they were looking for was what our ideas were on the president's Social Security plan." By then, he said, the interview process had thinned out the group. "They found out how we felt about it, and I guess that's how we got chosen."
With signs saying "Protecting our Seniors" flanking him, the president talks at length at these events about his desire for bipartisanship and a solution to save a troubled system for future generations. Nothing is said of the benefit cuts White House officials privately acknowledge will be part of any Social Security deal.
The mood and conversation inside the room are often at odds with what is happening outside. More than a month after Bush began his campaign to restructure Social Security, politicians and the public are deeply divided over private accounts and the tax increases, benefit cuts or both that experts say are sure to accompany them.
Unlike the seniors at these events, most older Americans, when polled, express deep skepticism about private accounts. And many Republicans are dubious. Bush, who continues to calibrate his pitch, told the audience here the solution is simple: Members from both parties should lay down their arms, come to the table and hammer out a compromise.
"There's still people saying, 'I'm not so sure I want to get involved,' " Bush said. "Now is the time to put aside our political differences and focus on solving this problem for generations to come."
He made nearly half a dozen similar appeals, although the president has yet to engage many congressional Democrats personally. To illustrate his bipartisan ways, Bush invited former Democratic representative Tim Penny (Minn.) onto the stage to tell the audience that Social Security is an "urgent issue, and it's one that needs to be addressed sooner than later."
Next up was Mary Hines, a Social Security recipient who worked for 40 years as a secretary. "Are you worried about the reforms?" asked Bush, who is increasingly trying to convince skeptical seniors their benefits will go untouched.
"No," she said. "In fact, as we understand it, the reforms will not affect us."
Pastor Andrew Jackson of the Faith Temple Ministries Church of God praised Bush for tackling the issue and lamented what he described as some of the false charges made about the president's plan. "That's called political propaganda," Bush said.
Harry Summer testified to the benefit of "compound interest" in private accounts -- a point the president stresses at every stop.
And, finally, Karen Siegfried, representative of the younger generation that Bush says will benefit most from the plan, made a plea.
"I presume you expect Congress to get something done now, before it's too late?" Bush said.
"Yes, I do," she concluded.
President's 'Conversations' on Issue Are Carefully Orchestrated, Rehearsed
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 12, 2005; Page A03
MEMPHIS, March 11 -- It sounded as if all of Graceland were clamoring for President Bush's plan to restructure Social Security.
The mostly white audience in this mostly black southern city clapped wildly as Bush took what he called the "presidential roadshow" to its 14th state Friday. He was greeted like Elvis -- adoring fans hooting and hollering, and hanging on his every word.
The few dissenting voices in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts were quickly silenced or escorted out by security. One woman with a soft voice but firm opposition to Bush was asked to leave, even though her protests were barely audible beyond her section in the back corner of the auditorium. The carefully screened panelists spoke admiringly about Bush, his ideas, his "bold" leadership on Social Security.
If the presentations sound well rehearsed, it's because they often are. The guests at these "Oprah"-style conversations trumpet the very points Bush wants to make. Seniors on stage express confidence that Bush's plan to create private investment accounts would not eat into promised benefits, and the granddaughter of one spoke hopefully on Friday of a richer retirement if the president prevails.
These meticulously staged "conversations on Social Security," as they are called, replicate a strategy that Bush used to great effect on the campaign trail. But instead of appealing to his political base in hopes of driving up turnout, Bush this time is targeting a far narrower audience of swing voters in the Senate -- centrists who so far appear unswayed by the president's public salesmanship. And Democrats, led by their new party chairman, Howard Dean, have begun firing back, belittling the forums as rigged spectacles rather than true town hall meetings.
The White House follows a practiced formula for each of the meetings. First it picks a state in which generally it can pressure a lawmaker or two, and then it lines up panelists who will sing the praises of the president's plan. Finally, it loads the audience with Republicans and other supporters.
To help make its case, the White House recruits people such as Mark Darr, 31, an insurance agent from Benton, Ark., who joined the president on stage at a forum in Little Rock last month. In a subsequent interview, Darr said he believes he was chosen because he went to college with one son of Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and provided insurance for another.
After the governor's office called, Darr said, he began receiving one call after another from the White House, quizzing him on his thoughts on Social Security and his family history, just as they did all the other candidates. "I'm sure they wanted to . . . make sure they weren't going to embarrass the president," Darr said.
Not so his mother. At first when he mentioned that she receives Social Security, he said, White House aides seemed eager to add her to the panel. Then they called her. "She wasn't really for the private accounts, so they didn't decide to use her," Darr said.
The night before the event, the chosen participants gathered for a rehearsal in the hall in which the president would appear the next day. An official dispatched by the White House played the president and asked questions. "We ran through it five times before the president got there," Darr said.
Erma Fingers Hendrix, 74, a retired nurse who also participated in the Little Rock event, said she believes she was picked because she has been active for years in Republican women's clubs in Arkansas and campaigned for Bush in 2000 and 2004 -- once even introducing him at a campaign rally just before he was elected president. "The ones who contacted me in 2000 probably said, 'Erma's easy to work with,' " she said.
Hendrix said the administration official who helped them practice educated the panelists on the plan without scripting them.
"It was just a matter of learning," she said. "We just really talked about what was going on, what the president was proposing and what did we think about it. . . . They didn't prompt me what to say or how to say it."
Don Farnsworth, 74, a retired pilot and Air Force major, described a similar session before Thursday's event in Montgomery, Ala.
"They had a couple people on the staff come down and introduce us all," he recalled. "We all went into a small room, and they told us what they were looking for was what our ideas were on the president's Social Security plan." By then, he said, the interview process had thinned out the group. "They found out how we felt about it, and I guess that's how we got chosen."
With signs saying "Protecting our Seniors" flanking him, the president talks at length at these events about his desire for bipartisanship and a solution to save a troubled system for future generations. Nothing is said of the benefit cuts White House officials privately acknowledge will be part of any Social Security deal.
The mood and conversation inside the room are often at odds with what is happening outside. More than a month after Bush began his campaign to restructure Social Security, politicians and the public are deeply divided over private accounts and the tax increases, benefit cuts or both that experts say are sure to accompany them.
Unlike the seniors at these events, most older Americans, when polled, express deep skepticism about private accounts. And many Republicans are dubious. Bush, who continues to calibrate his pitch, told the audience here the solution is simple: Members from both parties should lay down their arms, come to the table and hammer out a compromise.
"There's still people saying, 'I'm not so sure I want to get involved,' " Bush said. "Now is the time to put aside our political differences and focus on solving this problem for generations to come."
He made nearly half a dozen similar appeals, although the president has yet to engage many congressional Democrats personally. To illustrate his bipartisan ways, Bush invited former Democratic representative Tim Penny (Minn.) onto the stage to tell the audience that Social Security is an "urgent issue, and it's one that needs to be addressed sooner than later."
Next up was Mary Hines, a Social Security recipient who worked for 40 years as a secretary. "Are you worried about the reforms?" asked Bush, who is increasingly trying to convince skeptical seniors their benefits will go untouched.
"No," she said. "In fact, as we understand it, the reforms will not affect us."
Pastor Andrew Jackson of the Faith Temple Ministries Church of God praised Bush for tackling the issue and lamented what he described as some of the false charges made about the president's plan. "That's called political propaganda," Bush said.
Harry Summer testified to the benefit of "compound interest" in private accounts -- a point the president stresses at every stop.
And, finally, Karen Siegfried, representative of the younger generation that Bush says will benefit most from the plan, made a plea.
"I presume you expect Congress to get something done now, before it's too late?" Bush said.
"Yes, I do," she concluded.
QUOTE(rox63 @ Mar 12 2005, 06:13 AM)
If there was a real groundswell of support for this, they wouldn't need to stage these dog-and-pony shows.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar11.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar11.html
What a joke! If the Democrats cave in to this "pressure," they're lame.
Thankfully Obama is coming out against Smirky. He looked like he got too comfortable with him, Dick and Rover after being sworn in.
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