The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1944-06-22
SOCIAL INSURANCE

Congress on behalf of the American FEEDER;
lion of Labor a bill to provide social insuranc
system that would enable workers to have at leas
/ minimum income during the common emergeI
u :es that interfere with income earning.
i We propose contrbutory method with work
ers paying from wages an amount equal to wha
il The employer pays from income derived by pre-
duction to which workers contribute. Such
method gives workers rights or equities whic
they earn by work
! Personal insurance to cover these emergencie
lis too extensive for workers individually to tax
care of their needs Only by making the system
compulsory and setting up method for COLLECTIVE
insurance can small-income persons have the bene
lifts of insurance. In order to avoid dscrlmlnatol
the cOverage should include all employed IN prl
Ivate industry with provisions allowing govermen
workers other than federal employees to share
the opportunity if they wish
Action on this measure, which would set ul
permanent protection for millions against want
land loss of self-dependence, has been delayed by
the House rule that the Ways and Means Com
lmittee must consider the measure first. That
COMMITTEE has felt it must act upon tax leglsla
ton first.
Social insurance of course, must have funds
in order to operate but it is concerned primarily
with the broad field of national welfare-the In
tangible values essential for national health ano
sustained moral vigor. AS we look forward tC
permanent tax policy to meet our coming high
national budget, labor insists that provision foi
social insurance should be the cornerstone OF
fiscal pocy-not an afterthought.
The major opposition to our proposed social
insurance system has come from the political
representatives Of organized medicine and from
a group of state administrators who are linked
by great corporations through INERT rating" pro-
posas who have invoked the protection of states
rights"
What is involved is the problem of enabling
TlYapc TO how tn
and to enable them to have adequate
medical care. The existing prepayment plans are
too expensive to benefit ALL Health is of funda-
mental Importance to the individual and to the
nation. Health means physical and mental capac-
ity
The controlling representatives of organized
who refused medical care to persons be-
longing to the cooperative undertaking called
Group Health, made wiser by the Supreme Court
decision against them, have not involved their
in this campaign
However, propaganda against the Wagner
Murray-Dingell bill is being issued by Commit
tee Of Physicians" and is flooding the country
The propaganda which is distributed from physi-
clans offices and drug stores has msrepresented
our bill and rallied against 'state medicine" The
truth is that our bill does not propose state medi
cine but method of cooperative procedure that
is an alternative to state medicinelGim
The state administrators of unemployment
who are fighting our bill wish to
keep provisions at the state level and invoke an
issue of States rights" to gain their point. This
small group of persons seeks to defeat the pur-
poses of millions of wage-earners in matterI
which primarily concerns them.
Unemployment is an economic problem due tol
ups and downs in production It's major cauSesI
ire national and international in scope 1t can bel
eliminated only by national and international eff
'orts to promote full employment
1t is grossly unfair to compel citizens of theI
United States to accept less adequate unemploy-
nent provisions because they happen to reside in|
state that is less wealthy or less progressive|
han another. The national government owes toI
vi its citizens equal opportunity and equal pro-
ecti0n. Social insurance can be more adequate
t organized nationally so that workers can free
y seek employment any place that industry pro-
yides it. Wartime has proved the need for ma
ional mobility of workers which federal insur-
nce system promotes. For this reason we are
lrging emergency unemployment compensation
n which the federal government will supplement-
tate plans and also provide for workers excluded
rom these systems.
But emergency legislation would provide only
or two years 1t is high time Congress- 'considerl
rovSion for permanent social insurance for our
leeds in the peace that will follow Labor is i'm !
atient Of further delays. This is not PARTISAN
ssue. 1t involves determination of permanent ma
ional policy on agencies and procedures for
chewing national we-being.