Social Security and the "Greatest Generation"

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Unfortunately, there are not enough people still alive today that know what it was like before Social Security.

My Grandmother died last year at the age of 99 and 9 months. She was born when Teddy Roosevelt was President. She lived WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, and everything else in between and since. I used to listen to her stories about what it was like back then. Unfortunately, there are not enough of her generation around to remind people about the devastating poverty that racked this country.

The Repubs are counting on that as they devise a plan to achieve their dreams and destroy Social Security.

After several years of Republican control, FDR surveyed our devastated economy. He saw millions of elderly Americans, who's blood and sweat had built this magnificent country, living in poverty. The American people saw it too and realized that the true measure of a society is not reflected in the individual wealth you accumulate, but in how you care for the least among you. Those Americans made a commitment to the greater good, and implemented Social Security. It has been an unabashed success. Poverty among the elderly is no longer the norm.

When America was brutally attacked, FDR again went to the American people and asked them to sacrifice. Some made the ultimate sacrifice on foreign soil. Others went to work in the factories, rationed basic supplies, and held scrap metal drives. They became, rightly so, the Greatest Generation.

Conversely, when we were brutally attacked on 9/11, we were asked to "cut the marginal tax rate", "eliminate the inheritance tax", and "go shopping".

Makes you wonder what label history will give this generation