Photos by Charlie Shoemaker/The Gazette President George W. Bush and actor-pundit Ben Stein talk about Social Security at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring Thursday.

President George W. Bush (R) led an invitation-only forum, which his aides billed as a "town hall meeting," at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring to press his case for changes to the Social Security system. Much of the conversation between Bush and his four onstage guests focused on a plan that would allow workers voluntarily to invest a portion of their Social Security contributions in financial markets.

As the president and his guests -- including Montgomery Blair alumnus, Nixon administration speechwriter and actor-game show host Ben Stein -- advocated what Bush calls personal saving accounts to a noticeably young audience inside the school's auditorium, crowds gathered along the roadside to protest the president's plan, the war in Iraq and the fact that area residents and Montgomery Blair students were not invited to the "town hall meeting."

Airing the issue

Bush told the more than 700 people in his audience that the debate over Social Security needs public discussion.

"It's important that there be an open dialogue about Social Security, the problems inherent with Social Security and the opportunity to fix Social Security," he said. "You need to tell your grandparents they're going to get their checks. All of us, whether you're a Republican or Democrat, know how important this program is to a lot of seniors around the county.

"The question is not whether the seniors will get their check; the question is whether younger Americans will be able to have a safety net, a retirement system just like today's generation gets."

The president's point should resonate with the 20-something crowd, said Kathy Korsmo, a 21-year-old intern with the Cato Institute in Washington who attended the meeting and said the president's plan still needs work. And part of finding the right approach to Social Security reform, she said, is public input.

"It wasn't a question-and-answer session," Korsmo said. "It was more of a cheerleading session: He's trying to get the message out to the American people. I really think the Q&A should be done at some point -- preferably sooner than later, because this is an issue that the American people really do have strong stances on, and this is our future."

Social Security reform is even more important now, said Stein, who also serves as the honorary chairman of the National Retirement Planning Coalition, because 78 million members of the baby-boomer generation are "woefully unprepared" for retirement.

"What's got to happen is we've got to close the gap between rich and poor by letting everybody in this county get in on the investment side of things and harness their futures to the enormous engine of corporate America," Stein said. "Just as rich people get rich by buying stock, let's let everybody get better off by buying stock and by buying broad [categories of] stocks ... that are going to be safe over a long period of time."

Another view

But an April report from the Washington-based Institute for America's Future, which the advocacy group Progressive Maryland sponsored, warned of problems if the nation's financial markets should founder. That could leave Maryland in a position where the state would have to come up with $13.1 billion to support seniors relying on Social Security.

"Because privatization would end the Social Security guarantee, Maryland State will have to plan for the worst," the report said.

"Regardless of how the market performs, we'd have to put away at least $7.9 billion right now" to provide retirees with a level of income equal to what they are receiving under the current Social Security system, Progressive Maryland Executive Director Tom Hucker told protesters after the president's meeting.

Also addressing the crowd of about 75 were Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), state Sen. Ida G. Ruben (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring and U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington.

Many of the protesters, including Montgomery Blair alumnus David Choy, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park, said they heard about Bush's appearance at the last minute. "I feel humiliated that they are doing this at my school," he said. "This is a slap in the face -- Bush is not welcome at Montgomery Blair High School."

Choy's younger brother, Cory, a volunteer for Progressive Maryland, said he was insulted that ticket holders -- many of them interns working in Washington over the summer -- were brought to the forum on Montgomery County Public School buses.

"If Bush had really, really intended on having a town hall, and wanted to listen to what we wanted to say, he wouldn't have carted in two whole busloads of [Republican National Committee] interns from all over the county to represent my hometown," Cory Choy said. "Mr. Bush, this is Silver Spring, and we disagree with you."

The buses were rented from the school system and the school was rented through the county's Interagency Coordinating Board for Community Use of Public Facilities.

"The buses were rented by the organizing group and use of the buses were paid for by the organizing group as was the use of the school," said Kate Harrison, county schools spokeswoman.

Others said they were concerned about Montgomery County Police officers videotaping and photographing the crowds demonstrating along Colesville Road and University Boulevard East.

Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said the officers with cameras were part of the county's Special Event Response Team, and the videos and pictures are used only for training and evaluation of the team's handling of the Bush visit.

"Obviously, this was the first time they had taken part in this type of event, so it is simply done as a teaching and training event," she said.

Furthermore, Baur said, the tape would remain in the department's possession.

After the presidential motorcade left and the protest began to wind down, both Van Hollen and Ruben said they wanted President Bush to return to Montgomery Blair next fall to hear what the entire school community, including the students, has to say about Social Security reform.

"I welcome him with open arms," said Ruben, who said she was offered a ticket to the event. "I want to be there to hear these young people question some of his programs that impact them, like scholarships and Social Security. He's pulling the rug down over our young people."