s. He states, “The necessary next step is a planned economy for the achievement of economic stability through social ownership and social control of the great means of production.” Good thing for him he was saying this during the1930’s and not during the 1950’s. Dr. Harris, the assistant director of the committee on Social Security sums up the article. He believes the criticisms are equally divided between those who think there is too much federal centralization and those who think there is too much left up to the states,In another New York Times article on July 9, 1935, called “Long says Roosevelt is ‘a Liar and a Faker’ And ‘Just Getting as Smart as I Was’ at 14”, reinforces the belief that there was no debate concerning large social programs. The debate was, what kinds of programs? Long’s contempt for Roosevelt is obvious in the title, but what is not obvious is Long’s contempt for Roosevelt’s plan. Perhaps the Associated Press was more of an agitating agency than a reporting agency. Whatever the case, Long argues against Roosevelt’s plan by saying, “the State’s old age pensioners would get $3.60 a year, or a little less than a cent a day.” I don’t think that was a lot for back then. Long then attacks Roosevelt by calling him a liar and a faker. He feels cheated because he says, “I first introduced an old age pension plan in1932. Then again in 1933 and1934 and three consecutive times they turned me down.” Maybe if it were not for Long’s untimely death, he would have proposed a plan in 1936. It seems that the country was a far cry from Hoover’s belief that the government should not give hand outs to the people. These articles display the demands for change and the disgust that the American people felt for the system as it was. Social Security, although not totally successful, stated that it...
