The Bush/FDR alliance
It seems the President has an old ally in his plan to reform Social Security: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Donald Lambro of the Washington Times recently did a search of the archives to find out exactly what it was that the New Deal Patriarch had to say about the program that was originally begun as a pension program in people's old age. From Lambro's report:In an address to a joint session of Congress on January 17, 1935, here's what FDR had to say: "For perhaps 30 years to come funds will have to be provided by the states and the federal government to meet these pensions."After that, Social Security's financing door should be fully opened to "voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age," FDR said."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," FDR told Congress.
Memo to Democrats: That is precisely what the President is proposing should occur. Congress never acted on FDR's proposal then because Congress wanted a huge "trust fund" that they could raid at will. (Congress in those days was controlled by Democrats.) If Democrats went along with the President's plan today, they would be collectively admitting that they have robbed the Social Security Trust Fund over the years in order to serve their own political needs. Perhaps most importantly, they would be admitting that they have done little or nothing over the years to save Social Security. While Democrats conjure up the ghost of Roosevelt, FDR would likely be supporting the President on this particular issue.
Donald Lambro of the Washington Times is the party responsible for the quotations in this post.
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 10:45 AM
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