Rangel Calls for Vocal Opposition to Bush Soc. Sec. Scheme

Summary

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"This is a very serious period in the time of our nation's history," [Charles B. Rangel] told the heavily African-American audience. He said that, despite the period's gravity, there was a silence in the community's churches, synagogues and mosques. He urged those attending the forum to get "outraged" about the jeopardy to their fundamental rights. "All of us have to go around the country to make certain that we fully understand the language that they are using and what they are really trying to do."

Rangel dismissed the system in Chile, heralded by Republicans as a model for privatization. "The Chilean program is in serious financial shape. If the market does well, you do well. If the market does poorly, you do poorly. And there's no safety net."

Yet despite criticizing privatization, Rangel himself did not offer a remedy to this problem, saying that the first priority was to defeat the proposal. He seemed particularly wary about advocating raising taxes to solve the problem. "There's any number of things we can do. Democrats don't want to look like big tax raisers," he said.

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Extract

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Rangel Calls for Vocal Opposition to Bush Soc. Sec. Scheme

Using the lynching of Blacks in the South and the Holocaust as examples of the atrocities that can occur when people remain silent, Congressman Charles B. Rangel held a forum last Saturday at Harlem Hospital to educate the community about ...

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