Two protestors caused a minor stir last week when they revealed their anti-Bush T-shirts during the president's appearance at Pease Tradeport on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Susan Mayer, who is also a writer for this paper, and Carol Shea Porter were escorted out of the Pan Am Hangar at Pease following President Bush's presentation on Social Security reform. The two were clad in red "Turn Your Back on Bush" T-shirts and tried to make their way to the president as he exited the hangar. A column by Peter Gelzinis in the Boston Herald reported another man was escorted out of the hangar minutes before the program started.

The state was Bush's ninth stop on a nationwide tour to promote his Social Security plan. About 1,000 people attended the event, half the number that were expected.

Under Bush's plan, workers would be able to divert up to four percent of their payroll taxes into a private account, consisting of a "conservative mix" of stocks and bonds. The system will go broke in 2042 unless it is reformed now, Bush said.

"Investors aren't just Wall Street people," he said during the event. "I think every citizen has got the capacity to manage his or her own money. The investing class ought to be every American, regardless of his or her background."

Mayer and Porter sat down directly in front of the press corral moments after the program started. They doffed their sweaters to reveal the red T-shirts, and soon a crowd of event staffers, and a handful of what appeared to be Secret Service agents, gathered behind them. Two pairs of staffers sat behind and in front of Mayer and Porter in an effort to block the anti-Bush shirts. For the next 20 minutes, the four staffers and two protestors played a game of musical chairs in front of the press while the president spoke.

When the program wrapped up, Mayer and Porter stood up and turned their backs so that departing Bush supporters could see their shirts. The two then tried to get in view of the president, but were stopped by security.

"I was blocked by a very large man," Mayer said. "He said, 'Time to leave,' in a nasty tone...I have no idea who he was."

The two were then "shoved out the door," Mayer said.

The event was advertised as being open to the public, but Mayer said she was given the runaround when trying to obtain tickets. She tried getting a pair of tickets through Congressman Jeb Bradley's office, but was told only one ticket was available and had to be picked up in Manchester. It wasn't until Porter called Sen. Judd Gregg's office and phrased her request as if she were a Bush supporter that the two could get tickets, Mayer said.

About a block away from the hangar, some 75 members of the New Hampshire Citizen's Alliance gathered to protest Bush's proposed plan. Sam Mekrut, executive director of the NHCA, said protestors didn't try to get into the event because "we just assumed it was going to be a relatively screened audience," she said.

She said the group had no trouble with security.

"We called security in advance and asked where we would be allowed to go," Mekrut said. "After we spoke to the press, we moved closer to the venue. The security people were very nice."

The protest got a few positive responses from people driving by, but was "pretty much ignored" by people driving into the hangar, she said.

"We were there to represent the majority of New Hampshire citizens that are against any form of privatizing Social Security," Mekrut said. "Social Security is a program that's been the most effective program ever in terms of keeping people out of poverty. Privatizing is at best a very risky venture."

Several invited guests spoke in support of the plan.

"We need to strengthen this program for the 21st century. It was created 70 years ago...circumstances have changed," said former Congressman Tim Penny, a member of the event's panel. "We've got new generations coming along...and we need to give them a voice in how to change this program for the future."