Robert Ball Quotes
Social Security is a problem solving program, not a problem creating one .... Social Security is our best anti-poverty program.
Robert Ball, Social Security Commissioner (Democrat), ABC Issues and Answers, March 21, 1993
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was before the Republican Party moved so far to the right. Eisenhower not only supported Social Security where each generation was paid for by the next generation, but he was adamant that the benefits were too low and should be increased. See {623075} for the extent that the Republican party deviated from its roots and traditions,
Both of these programs have been amongst the most popular programs in American History. Yet for Republican conservatives at the beginning of the 21st century, these were programs that they wanted to either terminate of alter in such severe manners that they would not be anything like the original programs. When these programs were passed by Congress, most Republicans were opposed to the legislation but enough were supportive to have bipartisan support. However, by 2000, most liberal Republicans had been driven out of the party, and it was the Democrats who kept the programs alive and in force despite the Republican assaults. The Democrats had public opinion on their side on these battles and even most registered Republicans opposed President George W. Bush’s major attempt to privatize Social Security.
Robert Myers "Bob" Ball was an American Social Security official, who served under three presidents (Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon), from 1962 to 1973, as Commissioner of Social Security. He is the longest-serving head of the Social Security Administration to date. He also founded the National Academy for Social Insurance. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1935, and in 1936 received a master's degree in economics from the same institution.
