President (Bush) to Speak at UTMB
(Galveston, Texas)
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
Posted on 04/23/2005 9:15:47 AM PDT by anymouse
The White House began to release details Friday of President Bush’s island visit Tuesday.
The White House Media Affairs Office said that the president would hold a roundtable discussion on “strengthening Social Security” at Levin Hall on the University of Texas Medical Branch campus. Spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said the president’s schedule had not been set, but local officials said the event would take place at 12:30 p.m.
“We don’t have a list on the roundtable yet,” Mamo said. “We hope to have that next week.”
The Media Affairs office said the president would take no questions from the press and local residents had to be invited to attend. It was unclear Friday how the invitations were being made and to whom.
“I’m not at liberty to even say how people can get a ticket,” said Chris Stevens, chairman of the Galveston County Republican Party. “It’s very tight, very limited access.”
Sources Friday said they didn’t expect the presidential visit to cause any headaches for people trying to get to work or to class on and around the East End campus.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Reynolds-Sanchez said the university did not contemplate canceling classes or experiencing other disruptions.
Lamont Rogers, a Houston-based Secret Service agent working on security for the president’s visit, said he did not anticipate Bush’s motorcade causing any major road closures.
“At this point in time, we’re still working on the exact routes, but I’m certain whatever we come up with in the scope of our security plan will cause very little impact on people in the community,” Rogers said.
The restricted access to the event is rubbing some county residents the wrong way.
“Why is it such a secret?” asked Texas City resident Jane Johnson, a self-described Democratic activist. She pointed out that the president was coming at taxpayer expense and would speak at a publicly owned venue. “If they wanted to have a private thing, they should have it at a private place.
“They could have it at Chris Stevens’ house.”
President Bush’s visit will mark the fourth time a U.S. president has visited the island.
President Ulysses S. Grant visited the island in 1880 and President Benjamin Harrison visited 11 years later, said Mary Hernandez of the Rosenberg Library.
Adding to the historic nature of Tuesday’s visit is that Bush will try to sell Galvestonians on a proposal to make dramatic changes to Social Security, a program initiated by the island’s last presidential visitor.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to Galveston in 1937, Social Security was a 2-year-old safety net for the nation’s elderly, many of whom went hungry during the depths of the Great Depression.
Saying that the current system is headed for financial disaster as baby boomers retire, Bush wants to use a portion of workers’ Social Security withholdings for private accounts. Workers would be able to manage those accounts on their own, deciding how to invest them.
Critics have said it is unclear how creating private accounts would shore up the system’s bottom line.
The president’s proposal has focused national attention on the alternative retirement plan in which Galveston County employees participate.
Unlike Social Security, county workers do not pay into a system to fund the current generation of retirees. Rather, they pay into individual accounts.
However, unlike the accounts envisioned by Bush, county workers have no say in how theirs are invested. Also, the county’s portfolio is a conservative mix of bonds and annuities rather than stocks.
Mamo said the president’s interest in the county’s alternative plan is what will determine the guest list at Tuesday’s function.
“The president’s going to be talking about Social Security and the county employees opt out of Social Security, so he’s going to be talking to county employees and those who have some stake in what he’s talking about,” Mamo said.
President Bush ping.
A BOI bump from me! Wish I could be there, President Bush!
This is so cool as it follows up that story about the Dems disintegration on the Island.
President (Bush) to Speak at UTMB
(Galveston, Texas)
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
They say it won't disrupt traffic, a light rain disrupts Houston/Galveston traffic.
Now this is a disruption from yesterday......
An 18-wheeler lost its load on the Katy Freeway near the West Loop at about 4:30 p.m.
The bottom fell out of the truck's trailer, dropping the entire load of beer onto the freeway.
I hear that by the time TxDot showed up there was no need to do a clean up. :) There where however a lot of happy drivers weaving their way home. :)
Ellington!
The president's motorcade didn't disrupt traffic because he came onto the island from the ferry instead of the Causeway (although I'm sure it backed up Bolivar peninsula quite a ways).
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