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1932 › Norman Thomas (Socialist) › Unemployment insurance

Compulsory unemployment insurance funded by employers and by higher income and inheritance taxes

pledge_forwardspecific_pledgeparty_platformevidence B Labor & EmploymentRelief, Welfare & Social InsuranceTaxation⚡ The Great Depression similar solutions · similar reasoning

Solution

An effective system of compulsory unemployment insurance with funds partly contributed by employers and partly raised from increased income and inheritance taxes (the convention debated insurance versus compensation and the funding basis).

Rationale

When work is cut off through no fault of the worker, 'the government is under a moral duty to provide him with the minimum requirements of life.'

Evidence B: the platform text is archived only as contemporary newspaper OCR (Milwaukee Leader, the Socialist daily) and Levinson's New Leader summary, not the official platform document.

Statements (2)

1932-05-22 · Morris Hillquit NBC radio address for the Socialist ticket, reported in the Milwaukee Leader · conventionsurrogate ✓ verified

We demand an effective system of compulsory unemployment insur ance with funds, partly contributed by the employers and partly raised from increased income and inheis itance taxes.

Source: The Milwaukee leader (Milwaukee, Wis.), May 23, 1932, (Home Edition) (page 2) (1932-05-23)

1932-05-23 · Milwaukee Leader report of the Socialist convention platform session (May 23) · conventionparty_platform ✓ verified

The convention this afternoon continued its discussion on th ques tion of a compulsory system of un employment compensation or insur ance with a division among the dele gates as to whether insurance or compensation should be favored

Source: The Milwaukee leader (Milwaukee, Wis.), May 23, 1932, (Home Edition) (page 1) (1932-05-23)

Follow-through

not_applicable

Thomas received 2.2 percent of the vote; the Socialist program could not be tested in office. Compulsory unemployment insurance came in the Social Security Act (1935), employer-financed through a payroll tax rather than by income and inheritance taxes.

Enacted by others

1935-08-14

Franklin D. Roosevelt

statute Social Security Act Title III

source

Other positions on this issue

Unemployment insurance under state laws — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 specific_pledge
Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it — Alf Landon, 1936 specific_pledge

1932-thomas-compulsory-unemployment-insurance · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed