Keep pressure on to protect our Social Security: Please Join Us at Any of These 3 Press Conferences This Week

If you live nearby, please join us at any of these events! Following the event details, you can find the latest legislative update. At these three press conferences, Oregon United to Protect Social Security will be releasing a new report produced by one of our national coalition partners, the Institute for America's Future, that shows just how costly the Republican Social Security privatization plan will be to Oregon tax payers while bloating the bureaucracy. This is in light of the continued effort by the Republican leadership to try to privatize Social Security, now even using the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina as yet another excuse to do so! (---White House Deputy Press Secretary Trent Duffy - 9/6/05)

THIS WEEK:
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Wednesday, September 14, MEDFORD, OR

Who: Ralph Browning, AFSCME
Beverly DeLeonardis, Oregon Action of Rogue Valley

What: News Conference/Report Release & Constituent Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative

When: News Conference: Wednesday, September 14, 2:30 PM;

Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative at His District Office: 1:00 PM

Where: News Conference: Alba Park, 301 W. Main St. in Downtown Medford;

Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative: 843 East Main Street, Suite 400 in Medford
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Thursday, September 15, EUGENE, OR

Who: William Morrisette, State Senator
Kitty Piercy, Mayor of Eugene
Andrea Ortiz, Eugene City Councilor (to confirm)

What: News Conference/Report Release

When: Thursday, September 15, 3:30 PM

Where: Eugene Park Blocks in Downtown on W. Park St. and E. 8th Ave.
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Friday, September 16, BEND, OR

Who: John Hummel, Bend City Councilor

What: News Conference/Report Release & Constituent Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative

When: News Conference: Friday, September 16, 1:30 PM;
Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative at His District Office: 11:30 AM

Where: News Conference: Mirror Pond (next to Drake Park) on NW Brook St. and Franklin Ave.;
Meeting with Congressman Greg Walden’s Representative: Jamison Building, 131 NW Hawthorne, Suite 201
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Legislative Update:

There are three main possible legislative outcomes on Social Security privatization this year:

1. Most likely: Republicans will keep a privatization bill – likely the McCrery bill (a.k.a. H.R.3304) – on file while wringing in votes from nervous Republicans during this year’s remaining session – and then once they are within striking distance to the necessary vote, put it to the floor for all to vote on and break every arm to win it by the slimmest possible margin if necessary.

2. Next most likely: Republicans never clear a privatization bill out of the House Ways and Means Committee because they simply don’t have the vote to pass it on the floor.

3. Third possibility: Republicans clear a privatization bill through the Ways & Means Committee to have it defeated on the floor, which would end all quests to privatize Social Security for the foreseeable future.

The big picture: The Republicans do not want Social Security privatization to go the way of the Clinton universal health care plan, which upon its public and congressional defeat, basically became a radioactive concept for a generation.
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“We Will Remember” Training Summit & “We Will Remember Brigades”

By the end of September, the goal is to hold a summit in Medford where Oregon United and partner groups will train local activists to “be on watch” 72-hours prior to a vote expected in the House on privatizing Social Security. These “We Will Remember Brigades” of volunteer activists will be expected in last minute notices prior to the vote to let Representative Greg Walden know that how he votes on privatizing of Social Security will not be forgotten. These can be accomplished by local rallies, letters to editors, constituent visits and creative constituent activities. The goal of the summit then is to provide them with the necessary information and the tools necessary to put pressure on Representative Greg Walden to not put his party before doing what’s right.

Organizing this “We Will Remember Brigade” is critically important precisely because of the obvious quiet on the national and media fronts on Social Security over the past few weeks and in the weeks ahead, with Hurricane Katrina relief, Supreme Court nominations, and energy legislation expected to top the headlines. The Republicans have an opportunity “in the dark” to privatize Social Security that would put so many people below the poverty line and explode the national debt, in their quest to destroy Social Security. We must make sure that everything they intend to do on Social Security is put out to light so that whoever chooses to take that step are reminded that they will be held accountable for.

The first step is to come to a consensus on the date, location and the training program for this summit, which should proceed by the end of this month. If you have suggestions and ideas, please do not hesitate to call. There will be another conference call with Bob Creamer next Monday, September 19, at 10:00 AM, at which he will provide up-to-the-minute legislative update as we review the progress on this summit preparation. Please let me know if you can join this call. Thank you!