Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.

Repeal the compulsory old-age insurance plan; pay every needy citizen over 65 a pension from a direct, widely distributed tax — Alf Landon, 1936

Similar by solution solution · rationale

Score	Cycle	Candidate	Issue	Position
0.69	1932	Norman Thomas	Unemployment insurance	Compulsory unemployment insurance funded by employers and by higher income and inheritance taxes
0.69	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go)	Defense of the payroll-tax financing: the employer pays an equal share and the reserves are safe
0.65	1936	Huey P. Long	Distribution of national income and purchasing power	Share Our Wealth: cap fortunes, guarantee every family a homestead and income
0.63	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Balancing the federal budget	Balance the federal budget annually within revenues
0.60	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Balancing the federal budget	Balance the budget within a year or two out of rising national income, without new taxes
0.59	1936	Alf Landon	Unemployment insurance	Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it
0.57	1932	Herbert Hoover	Veterans' bonus and benefits	Oppose cash prepayment of the veterans' bonus, especially by fiat money
0.57	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Raise revenue by graduated income, inheritance and profits taxes, not taxes on necessities
0.56	1932	Norman Thomas	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Steeply increased income and inheritance taxes
0.56	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Veterans' bonus and benefits	No early payment of the veterans' bonus until the budget is balanced with a cash surplus
0.54	1932	Herbert Hoover	Balancing the federal budget	A balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability'
0.54	1932	John Nance Garner	Veterans' bonus and benefits	The Patman cash bonus and $2.3 billion of greenbacks, passed by the House under his speakership
0.53	1932	Herbert Hoover	Federal responsibility for relief	Relief through voluntary mobilization and local responsibility, with RFC loans to exhausted states — no federal dole
0.52	1932	Norman Thomas	Federal responsibility for relief	A $5 billion federal appropriation for immediate relief of those in need
0.52	1936	William Lemke	Minimum wages	A 'living annual wage' -- $1,800 for a family of five -- by federal law and a constitutional amendment if necessary
0.52	1932	Herbert Hoover	Level of federal spending	Cut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch
0.51	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Taxes levied according to ability to pay; lower taxes for 99 percent, higher at the top
0.51	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Old-age pensions and social insurance	Build on the Social Security Act toward economic security for all
0.51	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Unemployment insurance	Unemployment insurance under state laws
0.51	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Farm prices and agricultural surplus	Raise staple farm prices by a tariff-equivalent benefit plus voluntary production control, at no cost to the Treasury
0.50	1932	Herbert Hoover	Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land	A national review of federal-state-local taxation to relieve farms and homes of property taxes
0.50	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of federal spending	Reduce the expenses of government as relief needs decline
0.50	1932	Herbert Hoover	European war debts and reparations	No cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products
0.50	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land	Presidential leadership to consolidate local governments and lift the tax burden on land
0.49	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Old-age pensions and social insurance	Old-age insurance under state laws