Social Security Act

Examples of Social Security Act in the following topics:

• Social Security and Tax Reform

  • The United States was the only modern industrial country where people faced the Depression without any national system of social security.
  • The most important program of 1935, and perhaps the New Deal as a whole, was the Social Security Act, drafted by Francis Perkins.
  • It established a permanent system of universal retirement pensions (Social Security), unemployment insurance, and welfare benefits for the handicapped and needy.
  • With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program. "
  • Compared with the social security systems in western European countries, the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative.

• Legislative Achievements of the Second New Deal

  • The two major legislative achievements of the Second New Deal were the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Social Security Act.
  • The act was immediately controversial.
  • The Social Security Act, enacted August 14, 1935, was another significant achievement of the New Deal.
  • It was a legislative act which created the Social Security system in the United States.
  • The Social Security Act was drafted during Roosevelt's first term by the President's Committee on Economic Security, under Frances Perkins, and passed by Congress as part of the New Deal.

• The Second New Deal

  • The United States was the only modern industrial country where people faced the Depression without any national system of social security.
  • The most important program of 1935 was the Social Security Act drafted by Francis Perkins.
  • It established the framework of the American welfare system as a permanent system of universal retirement pensions (Social Security), unemployment insurance and welfare benefits.
  • Compared to the social security systems in western European countries, the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative.
  • In 1935, Roosevelt called for the Wealth Tax Act (Revenue Act of 1935) to redistribute wealth.

• Toward a Welfare State

  • However, the United States was the only major industrial country, where people faced the Great Depression without any national system of social security.
  • Perhaps the most important and influential program of the New Deal was the 1935 Social Security Act (SSA).
  • The Act established a permanent system of retirement pensions (Social Security), unemployment insurance, and welfare benefits for the handicapped and needy children in families without father present (the latter under the program known as the Aid to Dependent Children, ADC).
  • Compared with the social security systems in western European countries, SSA was rather conservative.
  • He added, "With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."

• Launching the New Deal

  • He pushed more pro-labor/social reform and anti-business initiatives but historians caution against seeing Roosevelt as anti-capitalist.
  • The National Labor Relations Act (1933; known also as the Wagner Act), which established the National Labor Relations Board (1935).
  • The Act remains a groundbreaking statute in the United States labor law.
  • The Social Security Act (1935) established the welfare system by providing financial support for dependent minors, the disabled, and the elderly (old-age pensions).
  • A poster publicizing Social Security benefits, author unknown, late 1930s/early 1940s

• Budget Cuts

  • During Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 which lowered the top marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%.
  • The Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 initiated one of the nation's first public/private partnerships and a major part of the president's job creation program.
  • The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, further reduced the top rate to 28%, raised the bottom bracket from 11% to 15%, and, cut the number of tax brackets to four.
  • Conversely, Congress passed and Reagan signed into law tax increases of some nature in every year from 1981 to 1987 to continue funding such government programs as Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Social Security, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA).
  • While he protected entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, his administration attempted to purge many people with disabilities from the Social Security disability rolls.

• Conclusion: The Consequences of the British Parliamentary Acts

  • Victory over the French had proved very costly, however, and the British believed the frontier had to be secured with a standing army in order to prevent another costly war with American Indian tribes.
  • Outrage over the act created a degree of unity among otherwise unconnected American colonists, giving them a chance to act together both politically and socially.
  • Colonists’ joy over the repeal of the Stamp Act did not last long.
  • Like the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts led many colonists to work together against what they perceived to be an unconstitutional measure.
  • The Tea Act of 1773 triggered a reaction with far more significant consequences than either the 1765 Stamp Act or the 1767 Townshend Acts.

• The George W. Bush Administration

  • Bush's two terms in office were characterized by a socially conservative agenda, the U.S. response to the 9/11 attack, and the Iraq War.
  • Bush pushed for socially conservative efforts such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based welfare initiatives.
  • Congress to lead an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq was in violation of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1441.
  • Bush's second term was highlighted by several free trade agreements, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 alongside a strong push for offshore and domestic drilling, the nominations of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, a push for Social Security and immigration reform, a surge of troops in Iraq, and several different economic initiatives aimed at preventing a banking system collapse, stopping foreclosures, and stimulating the economy during the recession.
  • In his second term, the Bush administration passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

• Wilsonian Progressivism

  • Included among these were the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Federal Farm Loan Act.
  • Contemporaries considered the Revenue Act a political triumph for Wilson.
  • President Wilson secured passage of the Federal Reserve Act in late 1913, as an attempt to carve out a middle ground between conservative Republicans, led by Senator Nelson W.
  • The reform agenda of Wilson's "New Freedom," however, did not extend as far as Theodore Roosevelt's proposed New Nationalism in relation to the latter's calls for a standard 40-hour work week, minimum wage laws, and a federal system of social insurance.
  • Despite this, Wilson did much to extend the power of the federal government in social and economic affairs, and paved the way for future federal reform programs such as the New Deal.

• Peacetime Politics

  • Cold War strategy, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 and reorganized military forces by merging the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense) and creating the U.S.
  • The act also created the CIA and the National Security Council.
  • Truman hoped to extend New Deal social programs to include more government protection and services and to reach more people.
  • He was eventually successful in achieving a healthy peacetime economy, but only a few of his social program proposals became law.
  • The minimum wage had also been increased while Social Security benefits had been doubled, and 8 million veterans had attended college by the end of the Truman administration as a result of the G.I.