About 300 people attended a public forum in response to Bush's Social Security privatization proposal. The event was organized by the Kent County Democrats prior to their monthly meeting. A couple of party representatives spoke first in general terms about issues unrelated to Social Security using very safe language. After a half hour of speeches Chuck Gainey from the Detroit UAW presented a critique of Bush's Social Security Plan.
He presented lots of numbers, but essentially said that the Bush plan is misleading and just "another attempt to privatize something that has served the American people well." He also looked at some of the forces behind the plan such as the right-wing think tank, the Cato Institute. Gainey said that many of the government insiders who are pushing for this restructuring of Social Security were once Cato staffers. He also mentioned groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, which are funding front groups like COMPASS and the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security.
After having a clear analysis of the Bush Social Security Privatization plan, questions were taken. One of the most relevant of the evening was "what are the Democrats doing to fight this and what is their strategy?" The answer that came back was disappointing. The audience was told that the Democrats were going to fight this, but they didn't say how. This was the case for much of the evening - lots of blaming, anti-Bush rhetoric, but no clear strategy or action steps.
Some independent analysis of the Bush Social Security Plan you are not likely to see in mainstream media:
