Matt Foster
Published: March 30 2005
Security was tight as the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, spoke to a crowd in the Lou Ross Center on March 18. His visit, the latest in a series of “town hall meetings,” centered on Social Security, an area of increasingly hot debate in some circles.
Around 8 on Friday morning, President Bush and his entourage of politicians and secret service entered the PJC gym to resounding applause and standing ovations from the roughly 1,000 people in attendance. With him were Congressman Jeff Miller, the President’s brother and Governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush and their mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush.
He also took a moment to thank the college for providing a venue for him to speak and cited the importance of community colleges in America, emphasizing how important they are in, “making sure that workers, both old and young, have the skills necessary to fulfill the jobs of the 21st century.”
This focus on college students would come up once more during the meeting.
The event, which was themed “Keeping Our Promise to Seniors,” had the President moderating a discussion with six individuals from various walks of life. Each of the speakers spoke about their personal experiences with Social Security and their fears of both the current system and possible changes that could be made to it. Among members of the panel (which included a Pensacola Naval Academy flight officer as well as Barbara Bush) were Mary Beth Roberts, a 21-year- old senior at UWF, and her grandmother, 83-year-old Myrtle Campbell.
Roberts, who received her GED while attending PJC, was not confident that the current social security system would be able to provide for her in her future.
Campbell has three children and nine grandchildren and recently lost her husband in 2003. She receives a Social Security check and knows firsthand just how important the money is to some people, telling those in attendance that it’s handy and that she’d hate to part with it. Campbell went on to say that she wants to make sure that her kids and their children, such as Roberts, can have Social Security benefits.
“I’m concerned for my grandchildren,” Campbell said. “I’m concerned about children all over the U.S.”
This tone of concern for future generations was supported by the other speakers in attendance.
The president’s response to these concerns?
His plan includes bonds, stocks and investments in personal savings accounts.
“We’re here to talk about your children and grandchildren,” Bush said. “I like the idea of people building nest eggs. It means they have a stake in this country.”
Bush said that money in bonds and stocks will give the populace more money than the federal government can.
President Bush also took a moment to touch on a few other things, such as matters elsewhere in the world abroad, thanking the United States military and praising the good job his brother has done while in office.
Jeb Bush also took time to thank the president for speedy hurricane aid on behalf of the Panhandle area and the state of Florida to which the president responded that he was, “glad to be back under better circumstances,” referring to his last visit, which came right after Hurricane Ivan, and that he saw a lot of blue roofs while coming in.
The president said that he was “struck by the stalwart spirit on this side of the world.”
Corsair Writer
Security was tight as the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, spoke to a crowd in the Lou Ross Center on March 18. His visit, the latest in a series of “town hall meetings,” centered on Social Security, an area of increasingly hot debate in some circles.
Around 8 on Friday morning, President Bush and his entourage of politicians and secret service entered the PJC gym to resounding applause and standing ovations from the roughly 1,000 people in attendance. With him were Congressman Jeff Miller, the President’s brother and Governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush and their mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush.
He also took a moment to thank the college for providing a venue for him to speak and cited the importance of community colleges in America, emphasizing how important they are in, “making sure that workers, both old and young, have the skills necessary to fulfill the jobs of the 21st century.”
This focus on college students would come up once more during the meeting.
The event, which was themed “Keeping Our Promise to Seniors,” had the President moderating a discussion with six individuals from various walks of life. Each of the speakers spoke about their personal experiences with Social Security and their fears of both the current system and possible changes that could be made to it. Among members of the panel (which included a Pensacola Naval Academy flight officer as well as Barbara Bush) were Mary Beth Roberts, a 21-year- old senior at UWF, and her grandmother, 83-year-old Myrtle Campbell.
Roberts, who received her GED while attending PJC, was not confident that the current social security system would be able to provide for her in her future.
Campbell has three children and nine grandchildren and recently lost her husband in 2003. She receives a Social Security check and knows firsthand just how important the money is to some people, telling those in attendance that it’s handy and that she’d hate to part with it. Campbell went on to say that she wants to make sure that her kids and their children, such as Roberts, can have Social Security benefits.
“I’m concerned for my grandchildren,” Campbell said. “I’m concerned about children all over the U.S.”
This tone of concern for future generations was supported by the other speakers in attendance.
The president’s response to these concerns?
His plan includes bonds, stocks and investments in personal savings accounts.
“We’re here to talk about your children and grandchildren,” Bush said. “I like the idea of people building nest eggs. It means they have a stake in this country.”
Bush said that money in bonds and stocks will give the populace more money than the federal government can.
President Bush also took a moment to touch on a few other things, such as matters elsewhere in the world abroad, thanking the United States military and praising the good job his brother has done while in office.
Jeb Bush also took time to thank the president for speedy hurricane aid on behalf of the Panhandle area and the state of Florida to which the president responded that he was, “glad to be back under better circumstances,” referring to his last visit, which came right after Hurricane Ivan, and that he saw a lot of blue roofs while coming in.
The president said that he was “struck by the stalwart spirit on this side of the world.”