I only got to watch a small portion of Democrats Health Care Theater. The portion I did get a chance to watch was the actor Joe Biden rambling on about how good Social Security was and how much it was opposed in 1935. That got me thinking (for Democrats that is the little voices in your head), what it must have been like in 1935 when the Social Security debate was going on in Congress.
First off I think it is important to "set the stage". There was a economic depression going on in the country, coupled with a crippling effects of the "Dust Bowl". Poverty rates among senior citizens were more than 50%. There was talk overseas about a new political idea which helps people having economic hardships (socialism). I believe the American public was begging for some help to get them out of their current economic woes, then along came F.D.R.
The Congress was overwhelmingly Democratic. The Senate distribution was 69 seats Democrats, 1 Farmer-Labor Party, 1 Progressive, and 25 Republicans, for a total of 96 seats (pre-Hawaii and Alaska). The House had 322 Democrats, 3 Farmer-Labor Party, 7 Progressives and 103 Republicans. One of the biggest concerns at the time was that the Social Security Act would cause a loss of jobs. The Democrats answer was that it wouldn't cause a job loss, because more people would retire creating jobs. (Sound familiar?)
There were two bills passed, one by the House and one by the Senate. Then the diffences of the bills were resolved (I can't find much on how they were resolved...must have been a back room deal).
Strangely the first check was not issued until 1942, but don't worry they were collecting social security benefits from 1937. They used to have lump sum payments of social security checks. The first check was for 17 cents. The guy had "contributed" one nickel form his payroll check. He was in the social security program for one day.
Why do I bring up all this history? Because I want people to see the similarities of the enactment of Social Security and the current health care bill. Americans were having difficult times and they were looking for something...anything to help. I contend that F.D.R. was the first President to use the theory of "Never let a crisis go to waste", although not called that at the time.
What was the end result of Social Security? As a nation we have $107,594,000,000,000 ($107 trillion) worth of unfunded liabilities (Social security, Prescription drug plan, Medicare). That is a liability of $348,470 PER CITIZEN! Yeah that program worked real well. Why the hell don't we do something about that, instead of adding more debt, so some bureaucrat in Washington can make my medical decisions? it is simply crazy!
I have been asked "If you think Social Security was such a bad idea why don't I just refuse to accept Social Security benefits when I retire?" The answer is simple... I want my money back. I was forced to "contribute" thousands of dollars to the system and I only know one way to get that money back, accept the benefits.
There is no way we can afford to have a government controlled health care plan. Please contact your Representative and/or Senator and stop the insanity. We can't let them steal this money from our children!
First off I think it is important to "set the stage". There was a economic depression going on in the country, coupled with a crippling effects of the "Dust Bowl". Poverty rates among senior citizens were more than 50%. There was talk overseas about a new political idea which helps people having economic hardships (socialism). I believe the American public was begging for some help to get them out of their current economic woes, then along came F.D.R.
The Congress was overwhelmingly Democratic. The Senate distribution was 69 seats Democrats, 1 Farmer-Labor Party, 1 Progressive, and 25 Republicans, for a total of 96 seats (pre-Hawaii and Alaska). The House had 322 Democrats, 3 Farmer-Labor Party, 7 Progressives and 103 Republicans. One of the biggest concerns at the time was that the Social Security Act would cause a loss of jobs. The Democrats answer was that it wouldn't cause a job loss, because more people would retire creating jobs. (Sound familiar?)
There were two bills passed, one by the House and one by the Senate. Then the diffences of the bills were resolved (I can't find much on how they were resolved...must have been a back room deal).
Strangely the first check was not issued until 1942, but don't worry they were collecting social security benefits from 1937. They used to have lump sum payments of social security checks. The first check was for 17 cents. The guy had "contributed" one nickel form his payroll check. He was in the social security program for one day.
Why do I bring up all this history? Because I want people to see the similarities of the enactment of Social Security and the current health care bill. Americans were having difficult times and they were looking for something...anything to help. I contend that F.D.R. was the first President to use the theory of "Never let a crisis go to waste", although not called that at the time.
What was the end result of Social Security? As a nation we have $107,594,000,000,000 ($107 trillion) worth of unfunded liabilities (Social security, Prescription drug plan, Medicare). That is a liability of $348,470 PER CITIZEN! Yeah that program worked real well. Why the hell don't we do something about that, instead of adding more debt, so some bureaucrat in Washington can make my medical decisions? it is simply crazy!
I have been asked "If you think Social Security was such a bad idea why don't I just refuse to accept Social Security benefits when I retire?" The answer is simple... I want my money back. I was forced to "contribute" thousands of dollars to the system and I only know one way to get that money back, accept the benefits.
There is no way we can afford to have a government controlled health care plan. Please contact your Representative and/or Senator and stop the insanity. We can't let them steal this money from our children!
"Health is wealth" is known to all and everyone wants good health. So, Let us build a food habit discipline, keep pace with work, rest and or exercise to Achieve good health, The ultimate wealth.
ReplyDeleteThe fallacy of Social Security was the notion that you would contribute during your working years and the government would safeguard that money to distribute back to you during your elderly years. Never happened. Instead, the contributions of each new enrollee were applied to pay off the earlier tier of enrollees, a classic pyramid (or Ponzi) scheme. We have been fleeced. And now the bubble is set to burst, leaving future generations holding the bag.
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