Florida CSE Travels to Hernando County to Promote Social Security and Medicare Reform

As the debate in Washington, D.C. rages on regarding an economic stimulus bill and protecting the tax cut President Bush signed into law in June, 2001 from tax and spend liberals, Florida Citizens for a Sound Economy (FL CSE) hit the road to promote and remind citizens of equally important issues: the need for fundamental Social Security and Medicare reform.

Though many in the halls of Congress have failed to properly address these two vital national interests as estimates depict both programs in serious economic jeopardy, CSE has been recruiting, educating and mobilizing hundreds of thousands of citizen activists to remind legislators that time is running out for reforming these seriously ailing – and soon to be insolvent – programs.

Florida CSE held six educational seminars from January 14-18, reaching out to more than 300 community activists in Hernando County, to discuss the need for Social Security and Medicare reform. As a sign of growing citizen frustration and concern with these two issues, FL CSE activists in the Hernando County area set up and convened the meetings for the benefit of the community. They sent out invitations, made calls, passed out flyers, and ran radio ads to get the word out about the events.

At each educational seminar, FL CSE director Slade O’Brien gave CSE’s Social Security power point presentation, distributed talking points, and sample letters to the editor and legislators. O’Brien called for immediate reform of the system to include Personal Retirement Accounts, which allow citizens to invest some of their Social Security taxes into private accounts that citizens – not the government – own, thus creating real wealth that can be passed down to future family members. Immediately following O’Brien’s presentation, CSE Vice President for Public Affairs Marty Reiser discussed the need for real Medicare reform and addressed the issue of prescription drug coverage for seniors. Florida CSE Director Slade O’Brien also appeared on the “Bob Haa Show” on WJJB where he discussed the need for reforming both programs.