Pros And Cons Of The Social Security Act

The Social Security Act of 1935, enacted during President Franklin D. Roosevelt, has become a third rail in today’s American society. By third rail, various scholars explain that if a politician these days were to try to alter or change the structure of the law dramatically, then they could essentially destroy their political career. One must understand how the United States gained this transformative law through our country’s history, both the official and non official actors involved in enacting the act, different alternatives to the policy, how it was implemented, and the changes it has faced since 1935. Every step taken from the emerging issue that brought the Social Security Act to life, to the controversies it faces today; have to be
Roosevelt is a salient president in this country’s history for multiple reasons, including being the only president to serve more than two terms. One of these key reasons is the Social Security Act. When he began the proposal process to the legislative branch, he actually never used the terms ‘social security’. This is quite significant and sometimes overlooked when defining a problem and framing an issue. FDR would often refer to the plan as economic security to be favorable from both the democrats and the republicans. Another emphasizing term used to frame social security was it’s focus on “Elderly assistance” and that the law is a child of the Great Depression, thus making social security seem innocent and innovative. Altymer states paraphrases President Roosevelt ‘s description as “Furthering the security of the citizen and his family through
The official actors for the Social Security Act broadly include the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. President Roosevelt was absolutely essential in the social security act and the role of the Supreme Court during the 1930’s. Previous Court decisions on the federal government becoming involved in social policy suggested that it would not declare the act constitutional. Knowing this, FDR presented legislation to Congress that would add one justice to the Court whenever there was a justice over the age of seventy in order to “Relieve the work load burden”. However in his description of the bill it was clear that his true intentions were to pack the, currently evenly leveled, Supreme Court to a more liberal Court in order to protect the Social Security Act. The Supreme Court justices must have been fearful of this being passed after months of Congress debating it because they changed their original views on the policy, declaring it constitutional. This created a constitutional revolution during Roosevelt’s