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Social Security Choice

• Wall Street Journal Features Students for Saving Social Security
  From the Wall Street Journal:

  "Founded in 2005 when Congress was debating President Bush's privatization plan, Students for Saving Social Security now works to put social-security reform back on the agenda in Washington.

  "(...) When Sen. Hillary Clinton said last year that Social Security wasn't a priority, Evan Dent, the group's 24-year-old grass-roots and public-relations director, walked into the New York senator's New Hampshire headquarters in an ostrich suit to deliver an 'ostrich award,' a citation given to candidates who avoid the issue. In recent months, the group has adopted a new tactic: dropping in on campaign events in neon-green T-shirts that say, 'New Hampshire Cares About Social Security.' The goal is twofold, explains Ms. Dent. 'We want the voters to be educated on the issue, and we want the candidates to know that it's a very important issue that they need to fix,' she says."

  Get the full story here.

• Baby Boomer + Social Security Cartoons
  With the recent news of the first baby boomer dipping into Social Security retirement benefits, there have been tons of editorial cartoons illustrating this upcoming flood on the system. Daryl Cagle has compiled several of those cartoons in a special section of his website.
• Clinton Earns Secure Our Future's First Ostrich Award
  Secure Our Future visited Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign office in New Hampshire last week to give her an award -- the Ostrich Award. Clinton earned the award by ruling out protected accounts and benefit cuts during a speech to AARP members. Taking these options off the table leaves Clinton with tax increases and doing nothing as her two remaining choices in dealing with the coming shortfall.
  
  From our press release: "The Ostrich Award recognizes Presidential candidates who have their 'heads in the sand' and continue to ignore the problems facing Social Security, offering 'stick it to future generations' plans."
  
  Go here to see a picture of the ostrich outside of Clinton's campaign office.
• S4 on C-SPAN: Social Security a 'Black Hole'
  Washington, D.C. – In a Social Security panel held at the National Press Club Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. EDT and broadcast on C-SPAN, Patrick Wetherille of Students for Saving Social Security (S4) warns fellow students to think twice about contributing to our bankrupt retirement program:
  
  “Many young people tend to write off Social Security as something that they know they must pay, but are not counting on in old age. But when you actually sit down and calculate that you will pay half a million dollars into a system that you have no faith in…Well, that’s quite a lot of money to simply send into a government black hole,” he remarks.
  
  Wetherille is co-founder and chairman of S4, the largest youth organization dedicated to reforming Social Security. Hosted by the 60 Plus Association, Tuesday’s 11th annual forum also includes speakers Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform, Nancy Altman of the National Academy of Social Insurance and moderator Jim Martin of 60 Plus.
• Secure Our Future candidates site
  Secure Our Future announced a new Web site today that includes original video interviews and research conducted by Students for Saving Social Security. From our press release:
  
  Secure Our Future Announces 2008 Presidential Candidates Web Site
  Senator Dodd admits: “Certainly, we have no ideas”
  
  Washington, D.C. – Secure Our Future, a new organization dedicated to protecting the retirement security of younger generations, announced in a Capitol Hill press conference at noon today the launch of a Web site featuring original video interviews with 2008 presidential candidates.
  
  The site includes a transcript from the July 23 Democratic YouTube/CNN debate in which Senator Dodd admitted in response to a question about Social Security reform, “Certainly, we have no ideas.” (See http://www.secureourfuture.org/election08dodd.php.)
  
  U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn addressed nearly 100 young activists at the Rayburn House Office Building lunch event, which was co-sponsored by the Independent Women’s Forum, Leadership Institute and 60 Plus.
  
  The 2008 presidential candidates Web site features original video interviews and research conducted by Students for Saving Social Security, a project of Secure Our Future. In addition to making clear the position of each candidate on Social Security reform, the site includes information about upcoming events, ways to get involved on campus and voter registration. To visit the site, go to http://www.secureourfuture.org/election08.
  
  “Young people are looking for presidential candidates who will protect our retirement security,” says Jo Jensen, the executive director of Secure Our Future. “We deserve a clear plan for Social Security reform from every candidate, including Senator Dodd.”
• Current campaigns ignore SS reform issue
  Dick Armey has a good opinion piece bemoaning the fact that none of the current crop of presidential candidates want to touch this "third rail" topic.
• Dangerous Financial Products
  

  Don Boudreaux has provided us with another glimpse into his refreshing perspective on economics.

  22 June 2007

  Ms. Clara Perez
  www.democracyjournal.org

  Dear Ms. Perez:

  Thanks for your e-mail alerting me to Presidential-hopeful John Edwards's proposal to create "a regulatory commission to protect consumers from dangerous financial products."

  If such a commission does its job, I suggest that the first dangerous financial product that it attacks be Social Security. Not only are Social Security's returns lousy; not only does the institution providing it have no sound plan to keep it solvent; not only does this institution intentionally mislead its clients about its insolvency (witness its discussions of the illusory "trust fund") - but its "customers" are forced to buy it. THAT is a dangerous financial product!

  Sincerely,
  Donald J. Boudreaux
  Chairman, Department of Economics
  George Mason University
  Cafe Hayek Blog

• Making Retirement Security a Top 2008 Issue
  Students for Saving Social Security was up in New Hampshire last week making lots of news about Social Security reform. We got Romney and Giuliani to come out in favor of personal retirement accounts, and we got McCain to pledge that he will not raise taxes in finding a solution to the funding shortfall.

  You can watch the YouTube video of us with McCain here.

  Other press includes a radio interview with "Meet the New Press," which is broadcast on WEMJ 1490 in New Hampshire, and this from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

  "A group called Students for Saving Social Security sent a woman in an ostrich costume to a McCain event Tuesday and a Giuliani event Wednesday. The group, which supports personal retirement accounts, says it's asking politicians to get their heads out of the sand on Social Security."

  Keep an eye out for the S4 ostrich as we continue our efforts to make sure that the next president deals with Social Security!

• Social Security Trust Fund Still Doomed
  

  Social Security Fund Trust Fund Sti