JFK Speech on Social Security

John F. Kennedy paid tribute to Franlin and Eleanor Roosevelt on the 25th aniversary of FDR signing the Social Security Act into law.

Money quote:

For millions of Americans, with that one stroke of a pen, their insecurity and fear were transformed into hope - their poverty and hunger were transformed into a decent life - their economic degradation was transformed into a chance to live out their days in the dignity and peace they had so richly earned.

But the job which Franklin Roosevelt set out to do in 1935 is not yet done. That opening battle was won - but the war against poverty and degraduation is not yet over. And no one realized this more than Franklin Roosevelt himself. "This law," he said, 25 years ago today as he signed it, "represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built, but which is by no means complete." We are here at Hyde Park today - not merely to commemorate the cornerstone - but to help complete the edifice.

Roosevelt wanted to move forward against poverty with "a strong and active faith." America has a Democratic President and Congress. Yet the current political dialogue is cutting Social Security and entitlements such as Medicaid. Change is not made by letting conservatives drive the policy agenda. That isn't governing by Democrats, whom were giving a clear mandate by the people. Pandering to whims of your political enemies will get Social Security destroyed.