Did fdr promise social security would only be paid by the 1 percent on the campaign for social security

by MoralDoes

I'm pretty sure I heard this somewhere, I can't find links to this could someone confirm or deny this for me. I can't find anything on it. Please give me a link if possible. I know it wasn't in the law, I mean when he was campaigning for social security.

JoeTheEconomist

The discussion of Social Security runs fairly loose. It is a lot of convenient facts, and over the top hyperbole. In this case, the answer is No. In fact, he said the exact opposite. He opposed general fund subsidies for the program. If you want a well researched piece, google Robert Samuelson's piece : "Would Roosevelt recognize today's Social Security?".

https://www.ssa.gov/history/genrev.html

Scan down to this paragraph...

"He summoned Secretary Perkins to the White House on the afternoon of the 16th to tell her that there must be some mistake in the actuarial tables because they showed a large federal subsidy beginning in 1965. When informed that this was no mistake, the President made it clear it was indeed a mistake, although of a different kind! He told the Secretary to get to work immediately to devise a fully self-sustaining old age insurance system"