Re: Social Security

A note to Congress On January 17, 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (you know, the patron saint of Democrats) presented his administration's case for enactment of Social Security. The full text is here. below is a one-paragraph excerpt that the Bush administration should throw in the current crop of Dems faces at every turn: "In the important field of security for our old people, it seems necessary to adopt three principles--first, noncontributory old-age pensions for those who are now too old to build up their own insurance; it is, of course, clear that for perhaps thirty years to come funds will have to be provided by the states and the federal government to meet these pensions. Second, compulsory contributory annuities, which in time will establish a self-supporting system for those now young and for future generations. Third, voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the federal government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans." It's obvious that the current Social Security program ought not to be dealing with the first issue mentioned by Roosevelt at all, by now. It's equally obvious that the fact that the program is NOT annuity based is a large contributor to the current mess that the Social Security System is in now. And it's is stomp-on-your-face obvious that the current generation of Dems will say anything and do darned near anything to prevent the third principle voiced by Roosevelt from being enacted. There you have it: the patron saint of the Social Security System sepaks from the grave in favor of the Bush proposal for private accounts.