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July 12, 2005

AP Reports Snow Storm in DC

This is a follow-up to Jonathan's "weather alert". His group's recent efforts have paid off. The Associated Press has used some ink outlining their pro-reform event scheduled for tomorrow:

WASHINGTON — Privatization foes in the Social Security debate have tried to pressure members of Congress by following them in waffle and duck costumes. Now supporters of private investment accounts are preparing a Capitol Hill snow job. Dozens of college students who support the accounts plan to spend Wednesday afternoon lobbying members of the Senate Finance Committee -- after a news conference staged amid imported snow and ice sculptures in the summer haze hanging over the capital. "The imagery has multiple meanings," said Jonathan Swanson, a Yale University senior who co-founded Students for Saving Social Security. "It can mean, `Our future melting away,' or, `Congress is giving us the cold shoulder,' or, `Congress is freezing us out of the debate,' or anything else catchy you can think of." Swanson, a 22-year-old from Plymouth, Minn., and a friend, Patrick Wetherille, also 22, a senior at Haverford College, started the group in March amid complaints that young people were largely absent from the Social Security debate despite having a huge stake in the outcome. ... "It's partisan here in D.C., but people support private accounts out in the country, even kids who hate Bush," Swanson said in an interview. Joining him were Ursula Williams, 27, of Long Beach, Calif., who quit her job with a public affairs company to join the group, and Ben Ferguson, a 23-year-old radio show host and senior at the University of Mississippi. They are part of a core group of a dozen who have organized chapters on about 150 college campuses. The group has received office space and technical support from the Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security and the Club for Growth, two pro-account lobbying groups. "The government is spending our money," Swanson said, decrying the congressional practice of borrowing and spending surplus Social Security taxes for other government programs. "We don't want a handout. Just give us our money."

I like that last quote, Jonathan. Way to stick it to them. We just want a CHOICE!

Posted by Andrew Roth at July 12, 2005 3:36 PM | Print

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