Opposition

" This question is the basis upon which our opponents are appealing to the people in their fears and distress. They are proposing changes and so‑called new deals which would destroy the very foundations of our American system."
President Herbert Hoover

Courtesy of Library of Congress

Critics argue that much of the economic hardship during the Great Depression stemmed from an unequal distribution of wealth, a problem President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Social Security plan failed to address. They believed the program would make people dependent on government aid and discourage them from working to support themselves. In their view, it was the duty of the states, not the federal government, to provide for citizens' well-being. These opponents also claimed that Congress lacked constitutional authority to impose such taxes, marking Social Security as an overreach of federal power and a risky step toward socialism that weakened personal liberties and harmed free enterprise.

Courtesy of Library of Congress

"Do not forget this: such an excessive tax on payrolls is beyond question a tax on employment. In prosperous times it slows down the advance of wages and holds back re-employment. In bad times it increases unemployment, and unemployment breaks wage scales. The Republican party rejects any feature of any plan that hinders re-employment. One more sample of the injustice of this law is this: Some workers who come under this new Federal insurance plan are taxed more and get less than workers who come under the State laws already in force."

“I Will Not Promise the Moon” by Alf Landon

"These are a few reasons why I called this law unjust and stupidly drafted. There is a further important point in connection with the compulsory saving provided by the plan of the present administration. According to this plan, our workers are forced to save for a lifetime. What happens to their savings? The administration’s theory is that they go into a reserve fund, that they will be invested at interest, and that in due time this interest will help pay the pensions. The people who drew this law understand nothing of government finance"
“I Will Not Promise the Moon” by Alf Landon

" The care of the indigent aged and crippled children and those unemployed through no fault of their own, is a most worthy objective. It would seem to me, however, that time is granted the old should be just above subsistence level, for the reason that otherwise savings and preparation for that time is discouraged, and thrift is indirectly penalized. There is already appearing and growing stronger a wide-spread tendency to depend upon the government, which where it appears tends to replace the older American spirit of independence"
Reverend Cooper

Helvering v. Davis (1937)

A shareholder of the Edison Electric Company sued to block the firm from paying or collecting Social Security payroll taxes, arguing that the 1935 Social Security Act exceeded Congress's constitutional authority. The Supreme Court had to determine whether Congress could tax employers and employees under the Constitution's taxing and spending clause to fund old-age benefits for the general welfare. In a 7-2 ruling, the Court upheld the Act, interpreting the "general welfare" clause broadly to permit Congress to address national economic insecurity, such as elderly poverty. This decision confirmed Social Security's constitutionality and expanded federal economic policymaking power, enabling future social welfare laws.

Courtesy of Library of Congress

"Most of us feel that government spending, while necessary during the past few years, has reached a point where it is creating a mountainous debt which future tax-payers will have to shoulder, to their grief. The budget, we believe, should be balanced with all possible dispatch"
Reverend Cooper