OLD AGE PENSIONS- ALTERNATIVE MOVEMENTS gggff

Townsend   The Townsend Plan Francis E. Townsend was a lean, bespectacled doctor from Long Beach, California. In 1933 he found himself unemployed at age 66 with no savings and no prospects. This experience galvanized him to become the self-proclaimed champion of the cause of the elderly. He devised a plan known as the Townsend Old Age Revolving Pension Plan, or Townsend Plan for short. The basic idea of the Townsend Plan was that the government would provide a pension of $200 per month to every citizen age 60 and older. The pensions would be funded by a 2% national sales tax. There were three eligibility requirements: The person had to be retired; Their past life is free from "habitual criminality"; The money had to be spent within the U.S. by the pensioner within 30 days of receipt. Dr. Townsend published his plan in a local Long Beach newspaper in early 1933 and within about two years there were 7,000 Townsend Clubs around the country with more than 2.2 million members actively working to make the Townsend Plan the nation's old-age pension system. Following the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, most of these alternative pension schemes disappeared as quickly as they had arisen. The Townsend Plan, however, hung around at least until the passage of the 1950 Amendments to the Social Security program, which made benefits much more generous and finally took the last of the steam out of the Townsend movement. But as late as November 1949, in the House of Representatives 179 members signed a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the Townsend Plan--barely 39 members short of the number needed to force the House to consider the final version of the Townsend Plan as a replacement for the Social Security system.

Source Documents:
	The Townsend Plan Text of an early version of the Plan
	Townsend Plan Promotional Items Townsend was a relentless promoter, generating all sorts of items to help sell his scheme
	Excerpts From Townsend's Newsletter For many years Townsend published a newsletter which went to members of the group
	Editorial Cartoons Some editorial cartoons from Townsend Weekly newspaper
	Other Material Related to the Townsend Plan Three unique documents from the history of the Townsend Plan
	Committee on Economic Security Essay on Problems with the Townsend Plan (1934) This essay by Edwin Witte sought to make the Roosevelt Administration's case against the Townsend Plan, as part of the research effort underlying the Administration's Social Security proposals.
	Research Note on the Townsend Plan (2001) A brief essay analyzing some of the key shortcomings of the Townsend Plan scheme.