Group to Coordinate Attack on Bush Plan
Social Security Proposal Is Targeted
The battle lines in the coming war over Social Security have finally been drawn with the creation last week of a new umbrella group that will coordinate attacks on President Bush's drive to create personal investment accounts.
At the urging of Democratic leaders in Congress, a few political campaign veterans have formed Americans United to Protect Social Security. The nonprofit organization with close ties to organized labor plans to raise $25 million to $50 million to pressure lawmakers to vote against Bush's proposal.
"At Americans United to Protect Social Security, we are going to run a national campaign to defeat the president's privatization plan," said Brad Woodhouse, the group's spokesman and the former communications director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The president and his supporters in Congress are messing with the third rail
; we're going to make sure they get zapped."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees provided seed money of nearly $1 million. Other major players in the coalition include the AFL-CIO; USAction, a grass-roots issues network; and the Campaign for America's Future, an activist group that pushes issues from the perspective of the political left.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51517-2005Feb24.html