It’s Time for a History LessonSocial Security - Social Security was passed by Congress in 1935 as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal (DEMOCRATS). It was controversial at the time because the opponents claimed it would cause a loss of jobs. The counter argument (and truth) was that it would encourage the elderly to retire, thereby making jobs available for the younger workers, thus reducing unemployment. It has it’s own rocky past as women and minorities were excluded from some of the benefits.
Democrat.org writes:
Treadway and Other Republicans Vowed to Oppose Social Security at "Every Opportunity". During debate on the Treadway amendment, Mr. Jenkins (R-OH), a supporter of Treadway's, called the social security program "compulsion of the rankest kind." During debate on the bill Treadway vowed to "vote most strenuously in opposition to the bill at each and every opportunity. http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/04/republicans_con.php
Medicare – Medicare began as an amendment to Social Security by Pres. Johnson in 1965 as part of his “Great Society” program. (DEMOCRATS) President Truman was present at the signing and was presented with the first Medicare card, thereby becoming the first beneficiary.
Wikipedia states:
Many conservatives strongly opposed the enactment of Medicare, warning that a government-run program would lead to socialism in America:
• Ronald Reagan...: “If you don’t (stop Medicare) and I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”
• George H. W. Bush, while a candidate for the US Senate in 1964, described Medicare as “socialized medicine.”
• Barry Goldwater in 1964: “Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink.”
• In 1995 Bob Dole stated that he was one of 12 House members who voted against creating Medicare in 1965. “I was there, fighting the fight, voting against Medicare ... because we knew it wouldn’t work in 1965.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)#Criticism
Sound familiar???Economic and social reform is repeatedly championed by the Democrats and derided by the Republicans. The Republican fear-tactics (that any social reform threatens the American way of life) has been a mantra for decades. This is nothing new.
Think about it, almost all progressvie legislation came from the democrats:
Woodrow Wilson supported the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote.
President Kennedy's Civil Rights Act of 1964
Johnson's Fair Housing Act of 1968
Social Security and the New Deal
Medicare
(In fact, the only exception I can think of is the emancipation of the slaves by Lincoln.)
Now it's time to add Health Care Reform to the list. I know this bill isn't perfect and I am sickened by much of what has happened. But the democrats must move this forward now. It will get fixed and amended later. Just pass the damn thing so that we can then focus on making it better.
Let's do this.
FourScore
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