January 29th, 2007

S4 Director Mark Harris was at the National Review Institute's conference this weekend, and he ran into former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  NPR caught the exchange, which went as follows:

Harris: My name's Mark Harris, I run Students for Saving Social Security.  I just wanted to introduce myself...

Romney: Nice to meet you.  I heard about your group.  6000 members?  Is that what I heard?

Harris: 6000 members.

Romney: See, I heard about that.

In honor of Milton Friedman Day, we moved our Friday quote to today.  Here it is:  

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is the lack of a belief in freedom itself."

January 26th, 2007

On Wednesday, the S4 Ostrich visited San Jose State University in search of students who agreed that Congress should get its head out of the sand and fix Social Security.  It was the first day back to class for the students, so I think the ostrich was a nice welcoming gesture for many.  Check out the picture below -- this student was so excited to see what S4 was up to that he insisted on getting on board -- literally.  He jumped right on the ostrich and wanted to RUN to as many students as possible to spread the message of choice and ownership for our generation. 

I wish all students reacted to the ostrich with that sort of enthusiasm.  I must say, today was a first -- one girl started screaming at the sight of the ostrich.  Created quite a commotion actually.  I told all the passers-by that she was not scared of my ostrich, but was actually screaming at the realization that Congress is doing nothing, as of now, about all the problems facing Social Security!!  Despite the one maniacal student, I think the ostrich likes San Jose State the best out of all the colleges he's been to because he was invited to 4 parties this weekend.  I had to tell the people who invited him no...I mean, the ostrich is obsessed with SS reform and talks about it ALL THE TIME already...there's no telling how PRA-crazy he would get in a party atmosphere, ya know??

Thursday, students at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo advocated for reform by hosting a Social Security Bake Sale.  I don't believe the group raised enough money to cover the shortfalls facing the current system, but they definitely succeeded in bringing awareness to the issue!  Over 45 people got on board, signed our petition and expressed agreement with S4 and the idea of personal retirement accounts. 

The highlight had to be when S4 rockstar Hans Poschman rode the Social Security Ostrich for HOURS all over his campus.  Check out our photo gallery...there's an entire album dedicated to him and his efforts to get as many students at Cal Poly informed about the need for reform.  If you'd be interested in riding the ostrich too, let me know!!  That bird NEVER gets tired of talking about PRA's!!

January 25th, 2007

Now that House Democrats have given us 100 hours of razzmatazz, maybe they will do something desperately needed, something crucial for the country. Maybe they will address Social Security.

More than likely, they won't.

January 24th, 2007

Anybody else notice that the Democratic response to the State of the Union didn't say a thing about Social Security?  You can read the response here; it doesn't mention entitlement programs at all.

It could be argued that there wasn't enough time last night to discuss Social Security.  Except that Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi made an address last week on the State of the Union, and they didn't say anything about reform either.  You can read that address here. 

I know it's tough to prioritize, but how is it that there is a timeline of 5 years for everyone to have broadband Internet access and there is no timeline for fixing Social Security?

President Bush again addressed the need for entitlement reform in his State of the Union last night.  "Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are commitments of conscience -- and so it is our duty to keep them permanently sound. Yet we are failing in that duty -- and this failure will one day leave our children with three bad options: huge tax increases, huge deficits, or huge and immediate cuts in benefits," the president said. "With enough good sense and good will, you and I can fix Medicare and Medicaid -- and save Social Security."

Read our press release here.

January 23rd, 2007

In an interview with USA Today, President Bush said that he "will remind them (Congress) that we have an obligation to do the hard work on reforming Social Security."

Here is the Social Security excerpt of the preview:

Q: The rumor around the Hill is that the Democrats may consider some kind of personal accounts (for Social Security) if you'll consider tax increases to help finance them.

A: First of all, we ought to meet and we ought to meet in the spirit that, bring your best idea, and we'll sit down and see whether or not there's common ground to solve the problem. First thing is to get a commitment from people of both parties and both chambers to agree to work with the administration.

Q: But would you consider raising the...limit on income that's subject to the Social Security tax?

A: No preconditions for any talks. In other words, things are not in, things are not out. What I expect is people to come and say, here's the best way that we expect to solve the problem.

Q: Some of your conservative base are worried that you may be reconsidering your pledge against no new taxes.

A: I've showed that you can solve Social Security without raising taxes. I think it's important for people to bring their best ideas to the table to find if there's common ground on how to solve the problem. The first thing is to get people to commit to come to the table.

Read the entire report of the interview here.

January 22nd, 2007

January 21st, 2007

Senator Bennett's amendment to Section 220 of Senate Bill 1 removes the bill's restrictions on First Amendment rights.

Read our press release here.