Political Quotes

“one of the stories Bob Dole likes to tell in speeches and interviews has to do with the events in the first 2 weeks of 1983 when, quite literally, the Social Security system was saved. As with many tales told on political campaign trails, it is not one hundred percent accurate. We all recall that opening passage from Huckleberry Finn in which Huck tells us that we will recognize him from the book about Tom Sawyer which was written by Mr. Mark Twain, ``and he told the truth mainly.'' Which Bob Dole does. The only part of the tale he leaves out is his own role. It could not have happened without him. To the contrary, he made it happen. I was there. I so attest. It was January 3, 1983. A new Congress was convening. I had just been sworn in for a second term. This was agreeable enough, indeed, hugely so, but there was a cloud over the occasion. I had gone on to the Finance Committee in 1977 and had worked on the Social Security Amendments of that year, under the superb leadership of Gaylord Nelson. We had realized the actuarial troubles the Social Security Trust Fund would face with the curious demography of the baby boom on the still-distant but recognizable horizon. We put in place a number of F.I.C.A. tax increases to provide for this. And thought our work was done. Then came the second oil shock and the great inflation of the late 1970's. For the first time in our history price increases ran ahead of wage increases.…”