March 15th, 2007

One of the attention-getting gimmicks that we use here at S4 is the FREE SNICKERS!! game.  We advertise for the game using merely a poster bearing the same words and a couple KING size Snicker's bars taped to the sign.  The point of the game (as you can see by looking through our photo and video galleries) is to demonstrate the inequalities that Social Security represents for our generation.  People playing the game obviously think they will receive a huge King size Snicker's bar upon completion, but in actuality, they are given a much smaller reward: a baby size Snickers.  This is modeling what the current system will do to OUR generation if nothing is done; we will get a mere SLIVER of what we've actually PAID INTO the system! 

So we try to make this point as easy to understand as possible and the game works well!  In fact, a couple weeks ago, when we were playing the FREE SNICKERS!! game, a couple people got straight up MAD at us.  It was a father/son duo and the father, upon seeing that his son was getting screwed out of his rightful prize, got mad at us and yelled at us saying the game was a complete waste of time, etc.  I had to turn and THANK him, because I think his attitude of displeasure and disatisfaction with what happens with Social Security is a fitting depiction of what everyone in our generation will eventually feel like when it come time to start collecting our benefits.  All of us will feel like that father and son and be straight up MAD that our government has basically screwed us out of thousands of dollars. 

Luckily, we KNOW about the impending crisis, so that means...we have a chance to fix it!  We can avoid these feelings of dissatisfaction by getting Congress to address the issue NOW, instead of taking the easy way out and avoiding it.  The father's and son's anger toward us was pretty impressive -- I can only imagine the sort of uproar when its an entire GENERATION that's peeved!!  Congress, please help us avoid this now!!

March 14th, 2007

March 11th, 2007

March 09th, 2007

by Natalie Vernon

As much as it pains my Norwegian heritage to admit, Sweden has an impressive and progressive pension system. In Monday's Wall Street Journal, the Politics and Economics section featured an article on Sweden's program's growing audience as more and more European countries find themselves saddled with as much as one-third of their populations over the age of sixty. While Swedish workers only contribute 2.5 percent of their salaries into a personal account, it's certainly a start.

The program's progressive aspect comes from the direct connection the Swedes make between benefits and the amount of time spent in the workforce. When you retire, you receive a payout based on how long you worked and the salary you received, as well as life-expectancy rates and the overall health of the economy. As Ohio State University professor points out in the article: "It puts the cost of aging onto the individual, rather than onto society."

Who would have thought that once you make the pension system based on the individual's contribution to the system, people would be more productive and retire later? I think the United States should hurry up and get with the program.

Have you ever heard of Dorchester?  Well, it's an annual convention held in Seaside, Oregon, and this year S4 made an appearance.  Wyatt Boyd, an S4 ROCKSTAR from Willamette University, manned the booth SOLO the entire weekend.  Yes, he spread the PRA-love to top Republicans in Oregon all by himself.  Mad props to him.  Screw petitions were signed, S4 t-shirts and frisbees were distributed and most of all, many people agreed with and applauded Wyatt and S4 for bringing more awareness to the issue.  As Wyatt said himself, "It was an amazing experience - the positive response from people attending the conference gives me renewed hope for the future of PRAs!" 

In a time when many people, (including our elected officials in Congress!!) are apathetic toward the problems facing Social Security, it definitely is encouraging and refreshing to hear about this sort of thing!  Now how do you like that for a HAPPY FRIDAY!?!

Everyone should check out this awesome article written by Carrie Lukas, the vice president of policy at the Independent Women's Forum.  She calls out our new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, by highlighting the fact that Pelosi says, "We're here for the children" yet isn't taking a stand on one of the largest issues facing these children: SOCIAL SECURITY. 

Yay for people like Carrie who urge our leaders to get their heads out of the sand and actually LEAD instead of "childishly pretend[ing] away real problems like Social Security’s financial future." BOOYAH GRANDMA!

March 07th, 2007

"A long time ago, in a more aristocratic era, Henry David Thoreau lamented that 'the mass never comes up to the standard of its best member.' But in the age of the Internet, people are more inclined to believe that the decentralized efforts of large groups can be better than the work of experts," writes Sebastian Mallaby in yesterday's Washington Post.

The upshot, as Mallaby argues, is that a cultural shift has taken place in the U.S. which has encouraged more respect for financial markets.  So despite a 3% correction in the stock market last week, Mallaby reports that "Democrats, who might have been expected to condemn (again) the idea of putting Social Security money in the stock market, stayed silent."

Reform opponents were silent because it is getting harder and harder to argue that markets don't work, and this is in large part because more people now understand that the results achieved by "decentralized efforts of large groups" are typically superior in quality and practicality to the decisions bestowed by centralized planners from commanding heights. 

This cultural shift--and, just as important, recognition of this shift in articles like Mallaby's and books like Wikinomics--is a good sign for people who want to introduce choice and ownership into our long-term retirement planning.

Evan Dent was in Texas prior to CPAC.  Here is her report:

I am glad I visited Texas personally…so I could learn that YES INDEED, everything IS bigger in Texas!! I’m not just talking about the amazingly tall female hairstyles I saw or the 3-liter bottles of soda (Diet Coke being the BEST one out there of course) I drank from, but primarily from the students I met and interacted with at the YCT Convention (Young Conservatives of Texas).

Their enthusiasm towards S4’s cause was refreshing.  Many students sent screws to their senators, (since they’re getting “screwed” by Social Security), proudly displayed their “don’t get screwed” bumper stickers AND played the “FREE SNICKERS” game.  It was all topped off when a couple students approached me excitedly asking if they could host a “FREE SNICKERS!” game on their own campus.   I tried to respond in a “Texas-larger-than-life-sort-of-way” – “OF COURSE!!!!  There is nothing I would like MORE!” 

So yes, hopefully we’ll be hearing more from these Texans.  In the meantime, check out all the rockin pics from my visit!!

March 06th, 2007

S4 was at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference last week, and our free Hershey's Kisses got us plenty of attention.  Actually, it was Evan Dent walking around in a Kiss costume and asking, "Would you like a Kiss?" that led to so many students and middle-aged men signing our Count Us In petition to keep personal accounts in the 2008 budget. 

CBS News certainly noticed the costume. "Evan Dent of Students For Saving Social Security walked around in a Hershey Kiss costume, handing out the candy of the same name. The message: Don’t Kiss Our Retirement Savings Goodbye," CBS reported on Friday. 

Thanks to everybody who joined S4 or volunteered their time last week.  Great success!

March 02nd, 2007

Indiana University chapter leader Jeff Fraser has an op-ed in today's Indianapolis Star.  It reads, in part:

This is why the president's 2008 budget ought to force a real debate on our retirement program. Individual members of Congress may either support personal accounts or they may not, but we cannot let that be the end of the conversation. Opponents of reform have an obligation to explain not only the reason for their opposition; they must also clearly explain the program changes that they do support.

Ever since AARP and their friends closer to the debate won the first battle on personal accounts, investment proponents have been reaching out to those with differing perspectives with an invitation to "come to the table." The Democratic leadership has stubbornly stayed home, but no one has forced them to explain why. It is time for that to change.

Great job, Jeff!