DURING THE Republican presidential debate last week in California, Texas Governor Rick Perry of Texas called the Social Security system a Ponzi scheme. It seems that the political atmosphere in the United States has deteriorated to the point where it is acceptable to call Franklin Roosevelt, perhaps the greatest president of the 20th century, the perpetrator of a crime when he advocated the institution of Social Security. Perry has labeled this system, which has saved millions of older Americans from having to live out the last part of their lives on the poor farm, a criminal enterprise. The fact that this man, who couldn’t stand in the shadow of a man like Roosevelt, has attracted so many Americans to his campaign is a sad commentary on the educational system that produced them.
Ed Romano
Lawrence 
