For everything you ever thought about wanting to know about the history

of Social Security and Medicare you must check out www.ssa.gov/history/history.html.

Trust me, there is nothing known about Social Security that you will not

find at this site. I actually spent hours perusing it this week. I got so

tired of politicians and media types telling me what they want me to know

that I set out in search of facts. Imagine that!

At this Web site I found an interesting brief history of SS along with

absolutely staggering numbers. An in-depth agency history is there along

with a FAQ section. Inner agency resources are listed along with outside

sources including books of interest and related Web sites.

One could easily spend days at this Web site if one had such an inclination.

I did not, but I did find two especially interesting areas that I want to

tell you about this week. Under the Chronology of Social Security I found

a detailed historical account of the development of social insurance, with

particular emphasis on Social Security. It is noted that items included in

this list are there on the basis of their significance for Social Security

generally, their importance as precedents, their value in reflecting trends

or issues, or their significance in SSA's administrative history. The information

includes legislative events in Social Security and related programs.

As election day approaches, I invite you to visit this Web site. If you

are only interested in presidential statements (including all made over the

past four years by George W. Bush) regarding Social Security and Medicare,

go directly to www.ssa.gov/history/presstmts.html.

Here are a few highlights from the Chronology of SS that I thought might

interest you:

- 1789 - The Federal Government accepted the responsibility of providing

pensions to disabled veterans of the Revolutionary War.

- 1793 - The first local health department with a permanent board

of health was formed in Baltimore, Maryland.

- 1796 - The founding of the Boston Dispensary, Boston, Massachusetts,

was the first organized medical care service in New England. This was the

recognized forerunner of present day home care programs.

- 1855 - The Government Hospital for the Insane was established (later

became St. Elizabeth's Hospital of Washington, D.C.)

- 1857 - The first municipal pension fund was established providing

disability and death benefits for New York City police.

- 1875 - The first private pension plan in American industry was adopted

over who had 20 years service with the company and were incapacitated for

further performance of duty.

- 1882 - The first major employee-sponsored mutual benefit association

was established by the Northern Pacific Railway Beneficial Association which

developed a program of complete medical care and other benefits financed

- 1894 - The first statutory retirement system for teachers was adopted

in New York City.

- 1896 - Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company became the first American

life insurance organization to provide disability benefits.

- 1897 - The first State law to provide medical and surgical aid for

crippled children was enacted by Minnesota.

- 1898 - The first State law in the USA providing pensions for the

blind was enacted in Ohio.

- 1908 - A workmen's compensation system was established for civilian

employees of the Federal Government.

- 1909 - A Conference on the Care of Dependent Children was held in

Washington, D.C. at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt. This

was the first of the White House Conferences on child welfare.

- 1911 - The first State laws for "mothers' aid" (forerunner

of aid to dependent children were enacted in Missouri and Illinois.

- 1911- The first workmen's compensation law to be held constitutional

was enacted in Wisconsin.

- 1915 - The first old-age pension legislation not challenged on the

grounds of constitutionality was enacted in the Territory of Alaska.

- October, 1917 - The War Risk Insurance Act was passed. This legislation

set up the first government life insurance program.

- 1917 - The first Federal legislation establishing grant-in-aid provisions

for vocational education was enacted.

- 1917 - The first State Department of Welfare was established in

Illinois.

- 1920 - A Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund was established

for Federal employees.

- June, 1920 - The Vocational Rehabilitation Act (commonly called

the Smith-Fess Act) was one of the first Federal grant-in-aid programs passed

program for industrially-injured civilians. (The restoration of medical and

physical ailments were not introduced as parts of this program until 1943.)

- 1920 - The American Medical Association made its first official

declaration of opposition to any compulsory scheme of health insurance controlled

- March 5, 1923 - Montana's Old-age Pension Law was enacted. It was

the first such State law to withstand the test of constitutionality.

- 1923 - President Harding was unsuccessful in his attempt to establish

a Department of Education in Welfare.

- 1927 - The Federal Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation

Act set up a workmen's compensation program for certain maritime and related

industries workers who could not be covered under State programs.

- 1927 - The Committee on the Costs of Medical Care (CCMC) was "organized

to study the economic aspects of the prevention and care of sickness, including

the adequacy, availability.

- 1929 - State laws for workmen's compensation were in effect in all

but four States.

- July 21, 1930 - The Veterans Administration was established by Executive

Order.

- March 4-June 16, 1933 - During the Franklin Roosevelt Administration's

first "Hundred Days," Congress committed the country to extraordinary

reforms with the Federal Government assuming responsibility for the welfare

of millions of unemployed. The primary aim of all the legislation was recovery.

And that was just the BEGINNING of the mind-blowing social reforms that

took place under Roosevelt's watch. Now jump forward 30 years:

- Jan. 8, 1964 - In his message on the State of the Union, President

Johnson declared "unconditional war on poverty in America."

- Jan. 7, 1965 - President Johnson's first legislative message to

the 89th Congress, Advancing the Nation's Health, detailed a program including

hospital insurance for the aged under Social Security and health care for

needy children.

- Jan. 15, 1969 - President Johnson's budget proposed a minimum 10%

increase in Social Security benefit payments for 1970..

- Jan. 1, 1971 - The 10 percent benefit increase became effective.

And the spending continued...

- Jan. 19, 1999 - In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton

laid out his proposal to "Save Social Security First." He proposed

transferring 62 percent of the unified budget surpluses to Social Security

over the next 15 years; saving 15 percent of the surpluses to shore up Medicare;

and investing 12 percent of the surpluses into new Universal Savings Accounts

as additions to Social Security. He also called for repeal of the Retirement

Earnings Test.

- May 2, 2001 - President Bush announced the appointment of a 16-member

bi-partisan Commission on Social Security <https://www.ssa.gov/history/bushcommission.html> .

The Commission has been tasked to develop a proposal to modernize and restore

financial soundness to Social Security, according to the principles the President

announced in his State-of-the-Union Address.

- Dec. 5, 2001 - The Senate passed a bill allowing $15 billion from

the Railroad Retirement Fund to be invested in stocks and bonds and lowering

payroll taxes and raising benefits in anticipation of the expected higher

rate of return the stock market investments will yield. The Senate vote was

90 to 9 in favor of passage.

Now, who was that who said it is NOT all about the economy? I propose that

waging war and fighting terrorism will only be a sideline activity for the

winner of the upcoming presidential election. Let's hope that winner

has the courage to be more fiscally conservative.