January 2002

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS






Thurs., Jan. 3     6:45 p.m.
     N2N Planning meeting for the February 7 Universal Health Care 
Sympo          sium. Since the GP Health Study Group will not meet in January, please 
          attend this prograa. Women's Building, 1835  18 Street. Info;          
          415/647-2471.
Tues., Jan. 8     1:00­3:00 p.m.
     Board meeting at the office. Election of Board officers. All welcome.
Thurs., Jan. 10     5:00­7:00 p.m. Reception
     Guild of Natural Science Illustrators presents 
Plants, Pests, & Pollinators.           Strybing Arboreum, GGP, 9th Avenue at Lincoln. 
Tues., Jan. 15     12:30­3:00 p.m.
     General Meeting: Let Freedom Ring! Examination of the erosion of our 
          freedoms with Riva Enteen of the Lawyers Guild and Sherry Gen-
     delman of KPFA. First Unitarian Church, Franklin at Geary.
Thurs., Jan. 17     8:00 p.m.
     The Beard of Avon, by ACT. Bring canned food and a donation. Box office 
          on Geary.
Fri.­Mon., Jan. 18­21  S.F. International Art Fair.
     In the Herbst and Festival Pavilions at Fort Mason Center. 
Sat., Jan. 26     10:30 a.m.­12:15 p.m.
     OWL: "Investments for Older Women in a Down Market," lecture by 
          Shaddee Ardalan of Merrill Lynch. Donations requested. First Unitarian 
          Church, 1187 Franklin St. at Geary.
Thurs., Feb. 7     7:00 a.m.­4:30 p.m.
     Symposium for public comment on the nine health care proposals before 
          the legislature in Sacramento. Applications are in GP office. Free, 
but you           must register  by January 4!
They that can give up essential liberty for a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
               Benjamin Franklin, 1759






Let Freedom Ring!
It's time to examine what is happening to our freedoms of action and expression in this 
time of national stress. We've invited two individuals who both before and after "September 
11" have been outspoken advocates for these freedoms to examine the current situatiion and 
its ramifications.
Sherry Gendelman is the Chair of KPFA's Local Advisory Board. As such she has 
been involved in all the negotiations between the station, the national board and its current 
much- publicized resolution(?).
Riva Enteen, Program Director of the National Lawyers Guild, will explain the reasons 
for, and ways to use, their new publication, Know Your 
Rights. What is happening to our Constitution andthe Bill of Rights in view of the new "wartime" constraints being imposed 
on them?
Join them on January 15 and express 
your views!




















A Great Time Was Had by All
Gray Panthers know how to party! Our holiday party was, as usual 
blast! Great food, enthusiastic singing, conversations and even a little bit of business.
After  satisfying our holiday hunger, those present elected the 2002 Board of 
Directors. First-time directors are Bernie and Cathy  Rush, Gretchen Davis and Caty Powell. 
Returning to the board after their mandated year-long hiatus, are Kay and Aroza. And starting the 
first year of their second two-year term are Mary Frances and Deetje. They all join 
on-going members Fanny, Wende, Gloria, Sonya, Astrid, Rebecca, Lillian and Miriam.
Officers will be elected at the first Board meeting of 2002 on Tuesday, January 8. As 
always, all members are invited to attend.
In the meantime, we wish each other peace, freedom, justice, universal single-payer 
health care and a Happy New Year! 






Things May Be a'Changin'!
Finally a break for universal health care with single-payer financing. California has 
received $1.2 million from the federal government to explore ways to expand health coverage 
in California. Nine proposals have been made, of which three are single-payer. Now we all 
have a chance to have our say!
There will be a Health Care Options Project Symposium on February 7 at the 
Oakland Airport Hilton. The program runs from  8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is no charge for 
the symposium, continental breakfast from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. or lunch, but 
you must register by January 4! And 
cancellations must be received in writing by January 11 or you will be 
charged a $50 fee.
You can prepare for making public comments by attending training sessions offered 
by Don Bechler of Health Care for All. He will explain all nine proposals and summarize 
talking points for and against each option. There will be time for you to practice your 
one-minute presentations at the symposium.
If this important meeting interests you, leave a message at 415/695-7891 to receive 
the registration form and information about the training sessions. Or you can get the 
registration form by FAX by calling 916/278-6633  or  by calling the Gray Panthers office at 
415/552-8800. For advance information about the nine options, go to 
<www.healthcareoptions.ca.gov>. 






Novel Now in Paperback
Margaret Atwood's novel of appealing characters in a historical mystery is now available 
in paperback from Anchor at #14. The Blind 
Assassin is a good read with interesting characters 
and a  gripping plot that we will easily relate to even though it is set in Canada. It displays a 
strongly progressive and feminist viewpoint, a bit of pulp science fiction that is more than it seems, 
even a happy ending of sorts.
Atwood engenders puzzling over her deeper meanings when you have finished 
reading and may inspire you to reread The 
Handmaiden's Tale or some of her many other books, all 
of which are available from the public library.






New Book From Gray Panthers Convenor
Coming this month, The Wisdom ToChoose: 
A Comprehensive Guide to Health and 
Independence for Elders by Dixon Arnett & Wende Dawson Chan. Published by Studio 4 Productions, 
$16.95, it will be in bookstores nationwide. Look for it!




















Lies, Damn Lies& What We Can Do About Them
The President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security presented its proposals on 
December 12. All three options for reform have three things in common: 
1) the opportunity for workers to invest part of their social security taxes on their own, 
2) the reduction of benefits to future retirees proportional to what they have diverted to private investment and 
3) the bailout of the system by government funds. All options, including doing nothing, are voluntary.
One option makes no mention of what its implementation will require from the 
government. The other two options, according to the Commission's estimates, will need 
anywhere from $1.3  billion to $71 billion from the government. None of the options would 
reduce benefits to current retirees or workers over the age of 55.
This Commission was appointed to save Social Security from the financial disaster 
that some people predicted for the program as early as 2016 and certainly by 2038. All 
appointees had indicated in advance that they favored some form of private accounts. When it was 
formed the Commission declared its objective was to balance the program's budget over the next 
75-year planning period. In this reporter's opinion this outfit should be called the 
President's Commission to Weaken Social Security, Spread Hysteria About the False Demise of 
Social Security and Shovel Money to Wall Street and its Cohorts. Here's how:
1)     Weaken Social Security by pulling funds from it. 
2)     Spread the false claim that in 15 years there will be no money left to pay claims when, 
by their own figures, Social Security is fully solvent at least until 2038and if there is a 
shortfall then, it can be relatively easily remedied.
3)     Shovel money to Wall Street as investments and brokers fees.
Question: How do they propose to balance the Social Security budget over the next 
75 years, their ostensible goal? Answer:  With government funds which would probably 
translate into increased Social Security taxes.
Even if you accept their dire predictions of financial disaster, which I don't, their 
budget balancing solution could be applied in 2038 or whenever. So their privatization proposals 
are irrelevant to their declared mission of strengthening Social Security.        
Fact: Social Security has a reserve fund today of more than one trillion dollars and 
is currently growing at a rate of almost $200 billion a year; and there are ways other than 
taxes to increase Social Security income.
Who finds these reports appealing? Obviously, Wall Street  and its broker constituency 
who expect to reap windfall profits from privatization; well-to-do salaried workers (who are 
not Enron investors) who already can afford investment programs so won't have prohibitive 
new brokers' fees and think they won't need Social Security when they cash in their 
successful investments. And then there are the misguided workers who believe the overwhelming 
and continuous propaganda of impending disaster and think they can do better on their 
ownthough there may be many fewer of those lately in view of what's been going on in the 
stock markets. This last category is the one that must be reached.
Remind everyone you know that Social Security is our guaranteed safety net. Once 
we retire, it never runs outwe get it the rest of our lives. We may not live high on the hog if 
we have no other income or savings but that minimum will always be there. It is not a gamble 
with our future. It is the nation's most popular and successful social program.
So what happens next? The Commission recommends debating its proposals for a 
year. This way it hopes the proposals won't be an issue in the 2002 Congressional elections. 
There are two things we must do now. First, tell our current representatives in no uncertain 
terms: no privatization; no weakening of Social Security! And second, demand a commitment 
from every candidate for Congress in 2002Hands Off Social 
Security!     Mitzi Raas

Editorial Board: Rebecca Hirshleifer, Mitzi Raas; Publisher, Astrid M. Spector; Art Director, Fannie Biderman; Proof, Lurilla Harris; Circulation: Harold Greenblatt and Mary Francis Smith. Printed by Graffik Natwicks; Webpage design: Barry Simpkins

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