FDR supported personal Social Security accounts

[A18]

In an address to Congress on January 17, 1935, President Roosevelt foresaw the need to move beyond the pay-as-you-go financing of the current Social Security system. "For perhaps 30 years to come funds will have to be provided by the States and the Federal Government to meet these pensions," the president allowed.

But after that, he explained, it would be necessary to move to what he called "voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age."

In other words, his call for the establishment of Social Security directly anticipated today's reform agenda: "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 explained.

---

So we're only about 40 years late in addressing his concerns on how make Social Security solvent.

[A18]

Of course I haven't actually moved yet, and I'm not sure were moving to Tennessee either. I was just in the mood for a change, and since Tennessee is the most likely place, I changed early.

Back on topic, this is great. Anything the Democrats say about Bush is true of FDR.

It's a whole new way of looking at the liberal attacks. Moveon.org is bashing FDR on Social Security.

[A18]

If personal accounts were good in 1941, they're definitely good now that Social Security is going bankrupt.

[A18]

It's been tried in Chile and succeeded. And in a far more radical form than we're talking about.