The Battle for Social Security: From FDR's Vision To Bush's Gamble [Hardcover]

Nancy J. Altman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471771724 | ISBN-13: 978-0471771722 | Publication Date: November 4, 2005

This book illuminates the politics and policy of the current struggle over Social Security in light of the program's compelling history and ingenious structure. After a brief introduction describing the dramatic response of the Social Security Administration to the 9/11 terrorist attack, the book recounts Social Security???s lively history. Although President Bush has tried to convince Americans that Social Security is designed for the last century and unworkable for an aging population, readers will see that the President's assault is just another battle in a longstanding ideological war. Prescott Bush, the current President???s grandfather, remarked of FDR, "The only man I truly hated lies buried in Hyde Park." The book traces the continuous thread leading from Prescott Bush and his contemporaries to George W. Bush and others who want to undo Social Security. The book concludes with policy recommendations which eliminate Social Security's deficit in a manner consistent with the program's philosophy and structure.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Altman, a pension-rights advocate, traces the history of Social Security from its introduction in 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered it as a safety net to protect not only the elderly but also children and disabled people. We learn that Roosevelt faced stiff opposition to his innovative concept, and ever since it has attracted controversy. The author claims that President George W. Bush has broken ranks with every president since Roosevelt, Republican and Democrat, in his current, high-profile effort to undo the program. She is highly critical of the Bush strategy, which she chronicles in detail. The author also offers a three-prong solution to Social Security's long-term projected shortfall--conversion of the residual estate tax to a dedicated Social Security tax, restoration of the maximum taxable wage base to 90 percent, and diversification in the trust fund portfolio to include stocks and bonds. This is a thoughtful, well-researched case against President Bush's efforts to reduce Social Security protection. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"[A] fine history … the best single explanation for Bush's [defeat] …Altman tells the story wonderfully…moves briskly…interesting story line."
—Robert G. Kaiser (The Washington Post, December 28, 2005)

“…a well-written political history, appealing to lay readers and policy analysts alike.” (Private Enterprise Research Center, March 2007)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (November 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471771724
• ISBN-13: 978-0471771722
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Social Security books ever, November 8, 2005

By 

Robert M. Ball (Mitchellville, Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Battle for Social Security: From FDR's Vision To Bush's Gamble (Hardcover)

I was the Commissioner of Social Security under three Presidents (Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon), I began working on Social Security on January 1, 1939, and I have read just about every book written on the subject. The Battle for Social Security is the best Social Security book to come out in a long time, and indeed is among the best ever written on the subject. It is a lively and highly readable journey through the establishment of Social Security, its expansion, and the present attack on the program's principles. Written in an accessible style, it will inform all readers, nonexpert and expert alike, about the dramatic history of Social Security and why the program should remain as it is currently structured. I urge everyone with a stake in the present battle over Social Security - that means everyone - to read this book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarified choices for American voters and policymakers, November 3, 2005

By 

Virginia P. Reno (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Battle for Social Security: From FDR's Vision To Bush's Gamble (Hardcover)

The Battle for Social Security reads like a fast-paced novel, but with the unique advantage that you can read it in any order. Skipping way ahead to the final chapter From FDR's Vision to Bush's Gamble (chapter 17) you find a six-page summary of the entire book, while The Ideal, Pain-Free (for Almost Everyone) Way to Strengthen Social Security (chapter 16) outlines the author's favorite plan to keep Social Security solvent for the long term.
Each chapter tells its own engaging story. The All American Program (chapter 10) recounts the Eisenhower years and the Hobby Lobby; Social Security's Grandfather (chapter 2) explains how John R. Commons' groundwork influenced the people who would advise FDR; Bold Woman, Cautious Men (chapter 4) brings to life the audacious role attorney Barbara Armstrong filled amid the economists and actuaries who crafted FDR's blueprint for Social Security; and Aging Gracefully (chapter 13) describes how the deal was struck by Republicans and Democrats on the commission led by Alan Greenspan (who hired the author as his executive assistant). On signing the compromise legislation in 1983, President Reagan said it "demonstrates for all time our nation's ironclad commitment to social security." A Leninist Strategy (chapter 14), cites plans of some libertarian think tank scholars in the early 1980s to wage "guerrilla warfare against the Social Security system and the coalition that supports it" by a strategy to promote private accounts for young workers and "detach or at least neutralize" older Americans. The Drumbeat Finds a Drummer (chapter 15) recounts how turning part of Social Security into private accounts became the top priority of President Bush's second term in 2005.
With careful research, artful story telling, compassion, and wit, The Battle for Social Security clarifies the choices Americans voters and policymakers face as they decide where they want to stand on the future of Social Security.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History and Future of Social Security, November 10, 2005

By 

Charles B. Craver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Battle for Social Security: From FDR's Vision To Bush's Gamble (Hardcover)

In The Battle For Social Security, Nancy Altman provides readers with a detailed and interesting history of the Social Security System from the beginning in the mid-1930s to the present. She brings to life the different participants, and explores the legally and philosophically controversial nature of the Social Security pension and Medicare programs. She also describes the recent efforts to change the system through privatization and recommends modest changes in the current system that will make it actuarilly sound for generations to come. A must read for anyone interested in the future of Social Security.