Save Our Security Campaign Heats Up

What kind of power can overcome the Bush administration’s $200 million propaganda campaign to convince people to privatize social security? People power!

Join Illinois United to Protect Social Security, a coalition formed to combat the privatization of social security, on April 2, for a 12:00 noon rally at Rep. Dennis Hastert’s Batavia office, located at 27 North River Street in Batavia, Illinois. The coalition, of which the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law is a member, will have two charter buses for elderly Chicago residents.

Speakers at the rally include Margaret Blackshere, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, and William McNary, codirector of Citizen Action Illinois and president of USAction.

Speaker Hastert needs to hear that Illinoisans are not behind the Bush administration’s drive to privatize social security. “President Bush and his congressional allies like Speaker Hastert are using exaggerated claims and scare tactics to sell their scheme to replace social security with a privatized system which will cut the guaranteed benefit by as much as 50 percent and explode the national debt by nearly $5 trillion over the next twenty years,” said McNary.

The coalition asks that attendees bring a picture of a friend or family member who relies on social security. During the rally, a collage will be created to show the many faces of social security recipients.

The Illinois AFL-CIO, the Chicago Federation of Labor, and the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans are also organizing a rally in front of Charles Schwab on Thursday, March 31, at noon, as part of the national day of action against Charles Schwab and social security privatization. This will take place at 150 South Wacker Drive in Chicago.

For more information, or to find out about transportation options, contact Yuri Gottesman at 312.368.1033.