a program that might harm the constituents that elect him. However, slightly increasing the payroll tax has happened over they years because youth voters are more apathetic and less likely to turn an election over because they don’t vote with the numbers the elderly does (www.census.gov). Despite the hurdles and friction Social Security reform will definitely cause, change must happen and will happen. The political setting will have to be perfect and precise so as to create a platform where maverick-style Congressmen can force the issue onto the floors of the Capitol. Referring to a historic reform of similar magnitude might prove beneficial in assuming what type of national and beltway disposition will have to be in place to provoke change. The following will refer to a backbreaking reform in U.S. history and the setting that invoked such radical reform.1986 Tax ReformAfter sweeping tax cuts in 1981, one would think new tax changes would not happen until a new administration took control. However, with inflation rates and unemployment steadily on the rise, President Reagan and his aides saw problems on the horizon. The 1984 election was looming and with Democrats gaining ground in Congress Reagan saw it was time to restructure his past tax cuts. Too many special interests were sneaking through loopholes in the legislation and a number of tax shelters had sprung up in the periphery islands off the U.S. coast and throughout the nation. Republicans, anxious to deter the stereotype of peddling for the rich they were branded Morris 10with, started making legislative moves early in the 1984 election year. Reagan, during his State of the Union address, ordered the Department of Treasury to study the issue and report back in December, after the election was over. Democratic nominee Walter Mondale immediately took action, though hardly the right one. He blasted Reagan and stated his only memorable quote: “I may have...
