Tonight I took a walk into a lions den. Well, the lions den wasn't really a den at all, but more of a community center and the lions were really just some irritable and misinformed people who are against giving our generation a choice for our future. What I attended was a town-hall style meeting on Social Security in Minnesota hosted by an anti-personal account group. But by the time the one-sided panel was done presenting its case against personal accounts (which was more akin to rant against President Bush), I felt very much like a man tossed to the lions. However, their rhetoric and the sneer quips from the crowd made me I realize that our argument for personal accounts is a sound and reasonable approach. I figured that out when I started pointing out contradictions and dispelling absurd myths during the Q&A session. Apparently, all plans that include the choice of personal accounts are going to strip benefits for everyone, profit only the rich and make your grandmother starve to death. Well, at least that's what this crowd seemed to think. I guess this may be a product of having a panel that is limited to one perspective and a crowd that isn't willing to listen to anything else.
What I came to realize is that the anti-personal account camp is more angry at President Bush than opposed to personal accounts. This shouldn't be a war over ideology. Sadly though, that is the position I found myself in tonight. Rest assured, truth and sensibility was the weapon they least expected and I made it out just fine. Turns out I walked into the "Lion's Den" with a pretty big stick.
-Dave Miller
