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To: NOW who wrote (9495)	3/5/2004 6:11:57 PM
From: Oblomov	Respond to of 110194

yep, my mistake (Medicare/Medicaid). I don't think that the welfare state is at risk. The two major programs, OASDI (SS) and Medicare, have only expanded in scope since their inception. In regard to OASI privatization, note that FDR proposed it as a public welfare program only to get it started, and he fully expected that it would become a quasi-private pension system over time. In the important field of security for our old people, it seems necessary to adopt ... voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by selfsupporting annuity plans. - FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, MESSAGE TO CONGRESS ON SOCIAL SECURITY WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 17, 1935 ssa.gov Why did this transition never occur? IMO, continuing the welfare state in its present form is an invitation to depredations of liberty as well as a threat to our fiscal health. The problem is, how can we trust the political system to resolve these issues?