"Strengthening Social Security" or "Hey, I got to talk to Dick Cheney"

In my ever growing efforts to inform people about social security reform (something that not only I have taken on, but also the entire College Republicans group at Seton Hill) I was invited by Melissa Hart's office to attend a town hall meeting with Dick Cheney this afternoon at LaRoche College in North Park. This was the second time I got to see Dick Cheney over the last six months, the first being at the Presidential Debate in September. While I wasn't able to shake his hand this time around, I did one-up myself and actually get the chance to ask him a question directly!

My participation, and rather complex pro-privatization question, during the town hall meeting got me interviewed (and actually shown on) by both Channel 4 and 11 news, as well as the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Here's a lowdown of all that went on:

Vice President Dick Cheney and Congresswoman Melissa Hart lead a town hall discussion on Social Security Reform Watch the video of me on Channel 4!

[UPDATE 3/25/05: You can also find me in this mornings' Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and thePittsburgh Tribune-Review.]

The whole thing came about when I was talking on the phone with Kevin McGavick, a representative from Melissa Hart's office. I was working with him on putting together some sort of social security awareness event at Seton Hill. It was during our discussion that he offered me a handful of tickets for the event, which was only open to about 300 people. Of course I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see the Vice President again and also hear one of the town hall meetings which I've read and heard about in various news sources. On my way home from SHU yesterday, I stopped at their Allison Park office and picked up some. After making a few phone calls, I ended up going with my allies in comedy and politics, Christoph and Ben.

Chris, Ben, and myself.

We got together at 10am at Cafe Kolache (where else) and had quite a bit of coffee. Then they parked their cars at Giant Eagle (which certainly had a sign that said they would be towed, but luckily the sign lied) and we piled into my car and went on our merry way. The event was set to start around 1:30, but the doors opened at noon. We made sure to get there shortly after noon so as to get a good seat... we had no idea that we would be so close (just three rows away from the center stage!)

I want this banner tied to the back of my car.

The event was very cool, and actually felt like I was back on the campaign trail. They announced the VP with Melissa Hart and the two of them walked out together and sat in a center stage, surrounded by around 300 people. The first thing Cheney did was lay out the facts... mainly that there is an undeniable problem with social security. He said there may not be an "immediate crisis, but there definitely is a crisis in the long term life of the program." Each year we don't reform social sec. we lose about 6 billion dollars in the program because of new retirees. And the newest reports show that things are going to go broke a year earlier than first projected. These are absolute facts, proven through income numbers and population growth. It's not something that people can just write off and deny (although many of the libs in Congress are trying to do just that.)

Dick and Melissa then spoke about the ways to strengthen and fix social security. It's important to note that this entire thing wasn't about private accounts or the president's agenda. But rather he laid out all of the options on the table, the good and the bad, and in the end endorsed a few of them. The idea of private accounts or a Thrift Savings Account, both of which he endorsed, are both quite viable and would help growth in our private economy. But he was also careful to say that these aren't the only solutions. Other steps are going to be made to help security along.

Afterwards, they took questions from the audience. We had been told by the usher to think of a question to ask, probably because we are three strapping-young men concerned about our future. Chris and I both came up with questions, but during the course of the event another woman asked my question! The usher was standing next to me, ready to hand me the mic... so I leaned over to Chris and said, "I'm stealing your question!" He replied with, "No!" and I said, "Fine, I'm modifying your question!" And I did just that. The question itself was about the caps that would be enforced to limit early investment in the private accounts. My modification on the question regarded how those caps would expand, whether they would be individually expanded or raised nationally. By the time I was done asking the question I was out of breathe and thought I was going to faint.

That's my hand, asking a question to Dick Cheney.

After the event was all over, Dick went around shaking hands and posing for pictures. Unfortunately we weren't close enough to shake is hand (again), plus a posed pictures with the four of us would have been unbelievable, but Melissa did wave hello to me, saying the words "We need to talk!" I can only presume this was in regards to the SHU College Republicans' request for her assistance this semester.

Dick Cheney, go on and hug him!

As soon as the politicians left, the media began swarming. I was immediately questioned by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, WTAE Action 4 News, and WPXI 11 News. I managed to be on both news reports (although Channel 11 referred to me as Mike Rubin...)! It was very interesting to see the spin they put on the event that I attended. While both certainly leaned to the left, WXPI went overboard, focusing almost completely on the 5 protesters that showed up. Of course, I don't trust "if it bleeds it leads"-WPXI as far as I can throw them. But if you want to watch the superior video of me on WTAE, Click here! I don't know how long this link will work, so get it while it's hot.

Ben takes an up close look at the problems ahead.

It was an excellent event, and certainly another great highlight in my tiny bud of a political career. It was nice to walk into this event and be recognized by most of the people organizing it... hopefully these valuable contacts and experiences will help me help the SHUCRs and my generation.

Posted by MikeRubino at March 24, 2005 4:59 PM | TrackBack