Tickets for this "public" opportunity to discuss retirement security with President Bush are being handed out by only three entities: The White House; Rep. Ferguson's office; and the Union County Chamber of Commerce and Somerset County Business Partnership.

The White House and Rep. Ferguson support of President Bush's Social Security proposal, and so does the United States Chamber of Commerce which accredits both county business organizations. The national Chamber is a prime funding source for the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a business coalition which was formed to back private investment of Social Security dollars.

With only supporters of the President's plan distributing tickets, the likelihood of any opposing views attending the "town hall" is pretty darn low. But they do not want opposing views in the audience. The President has been orchestrating events such as these all over the country with hand-picked audiences to reflect his own positions and make it appear the public supports private accounts.

However, anyone who attended Rep. Ferguson's town meetings last Saturday knows this is not the case. In open meetings in Bernardsville and Flemington the Congressman was directly challenged on his support for this plan, and on his weak grasp of the reality that Social Security faces.

I was amazed to hear Rep. Ferguson announce firmly and with resolve, "There are fewer people in the workforce today than there were 20 years ago." He repeated the claim twice.

But it is simply untrue. The Department of Labor says that in 1985 there were about 115 million people in the workforce, and in 2005 there are 148 million. That's a 33 million person, 28 percent increase that Rep. Ferguson didn't know about.

Rep. Ferguson also announced with authority that by the end of the 21st Century the Social Security shortfall would reach $75 trillion dollars. He used that stunning number to demonstrate that the President's plan to add $1 or $2 trillion to the deficit for private accounts was small potatoes.

But the Social Security Administration's trustees report from 2004 says the shortfall will be just $3.7 trillion, more than $70 trillion less than Rep. Ferguson's assertion. When told by a member of the audience had bad data, Rep. Ferguson stubbornly insisted, "That's not the information I have."

These are the basic facts of the entire issue: how many workers will pay into the system or retire, and how much debt do we need to make up. Yet Rep. Ferguson misstated both in public meetings intended to educate the public on the issues facing Social Security.

If he believes these numbers, his position on Social Security is based on bad information. If he doesn't, then he is intentionally misleading the public for partisan gain.

We cannot address the issue of Social Security with misinformation and misstatements of fact. It is only with an engaged, educated populace that a proper, measured and financially prudent solution will be made.

If Friday is anything like last Saturday, President Bush and Rep. Ferguson will not be leading us into that direction.

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