Ohio Talking Points

You are invited to join with Blue Dublin and the Upper Arlington Progressive Action (Democratic organizations in Franklin County, Ohio), as we organize April Fools Day media events /grassroots-building events related to Social Security. We are encouraging other local Democrats tohold events of their own across Franklin County. We are inviting Democrats across the country to participate also. Let’s try to have a nationwide party on April 1st, telling George W. Bush and the Republicans “Don’t Fool With Social Security.”

Goals – Ideally, each local event should provide:

* Proactive publicity through a tangible event that the media can cover, thereby raising the public profile of the Social Security debate in the local community;

* Grassroots recruitment through tangible activities that local Democratic Party organizations can use to raise their profile in the community and develop their grassroots.

Event Description:

On Friday, April 1st, Democratic and progressive activists will meet with their neighbors at some local venue to:

* Learn more about the debate, including specific actions they can take to save Social Security;
* Pick up/purchase “Don’t Fool With Social Security” yardsigns;
* Sign onto an open letter to President Bush;
* Sign up to participate in a phone/letter-writiing campaign, whereby elected officials are urged to sign the “Don’t Fool With Social Security” pledge.
* Meet their fellow activists.

What Needs to Be Done:

* Publicity Material: To provide a visual hook for the media and to “brand” the campaign, we will need yard signs and bumper stickers with the message “Don’t Fool With Social Security.” The Upper Arlington Progressive Alliance (which had enormous success wth yard signs in its earlier incarnation as “UA for Kerry”) is investigating costs. Ideally, some national printing house can be found to accept orders from individuals/organizations holding an event.

* Logo: Still to be designed.

* Website: Particularly if this expands into a nationwide effort, there should be some kind of website (“www.DontFoolWithSocialSecurity.com”?) offering online event kits (.pdf files of logos, materials, etc.) and a lookup feature so individuals can find out where the nearest event is. This still needs to be built.

* Open Letter/”Don’t’ Fool With Social Security” Pledge: Drafts are below; obviously, they will be tweaked as necessary.

* Media Kits/Education Materials: Working with a committee of folks interested in the topic, I will be preparing briefing materials including sample press releases, fact sheets, FAQs, and links to online sources of information.

If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you or if you have questions, please contact J.B. Lawton at jbliiiATcolumbus.rr.com or post a comment here And feel free to pass this idea along others who might be interested. Thanks.

JB

---------------------
Draft Open Letter


April 1, 2005

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington D.C. , 20500

Dear President Bush:

Today, April 1st is a day for celebrating practical jokes and foolish pranks. But starting tomorrow, the jokes have to stop. Privatizing Social Security is not a laughing mattter.

It’s foolish to destroy the most successful social program in the last seventy years of American history.

It’s foolish to use Enron accounting to claim that privatizing Social Security isn’t going to cost trillions of dollars.

It’s foolish to blow saddle our children and grandchildren with a “birth tax” of $360,000 apiece in order to pay the cost of privatizing Social Security.

It’s foolish to propose a “fix” for Social Security that doesn’t even solve the real problems that Social Security is going to face in the future.

It’s foolish to gamble folks’ futures in the stock market casino.

And it’s really foolish to think that we are going to sit back and let you do it. As you said yourself: "Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."

Well, we aren’t going to be fooled again. We pledge today to stop you from turning Social Security into a joke. And we pledge to raise money, raise awareness, and actively campaign against any politician—Republican or Democrat—who doesn’t sign the attached pledge.

Don’t Fool With Social Security.

--------------------



Draft “Don’t Fool With Social Security” Pledge

[The language has been taken almost verbatim from the Americans for Tax Reform’s “Taxypayer Protection Pledge. Obviously, the specific wording can be tweaked as needed.]

I, ____________, pledge to the taxpayers of the _____ district of the State of _________ and to all the people of this state, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to dismantle Social Security.

Signed

_______________ ________________
(Candidate/Official) Date

_______________ ________________
Witness Witness

--------------------------------
Sample Invitation:

Don’t let politicians fool with Social Security. On Friday, April Fools Day, join your neighbors for a TGIF party as we remember who wants to privatize Social Security, playing a cruel joke on all of us. We’ll meet at [location] from [start-time] to [finish-time] to organize and kick off our local “Don’t Fool With Social Security” drive. Sign our open letter to President Bush, pick up a yard sign, and learn more about wht all of us can do to protect Social Security.
Questions? Email or call [contact person] or check out [www.DontFoolWithSocialSecurity.com or whatever the final website is].

Possible Related Media Events:

* Pre-event phone-bank of volunteers who will call invitees (ideally, this should be scheduled in the morning in order to make the noon local news).

* The party (or parties if there is county-wide/national interest) where an open letter to President Bush will be read, and volunteers will sign up to participate in a campaign calling the White House, Senators, and local Representatives the following Monday. (Ideally, volunteers should sign up for specific times, ensuring that offices will get phone calls and faxes at least every five minutes.)

* Monday phone bank of volunteers making their phone calls. (Again, while calls will be scheduled all day, the media should be invited to a morning kick-off phone bank so that the story will make the local news.