Dr. Francis Everett Townsend (January 13, 1867–September 1, 1960) was an American physician who was best known for his revolving old-age pension proposal during the Great Depression. Known as the "Townsend Plan," this proposal influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's Social Security system. Frances Townsend Frances Fragos Townsend (born December 28, 1961) in Mineola, New York and raised in Wantagh, Long Island,[1] is the current Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush. ... Image File history File links TownsendF.jpg‎ http://www. ... Image File history File links TownsendF.jpg‎ http://www. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Doctor by Samuel Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... A pension is a steady income given to a person (usually after retirement). ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in October of 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ... FDR redirects here. ... Social Security, in the United States, refers to the Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. ...

Features of the Townsend Plan

The Townsend Plan called for a guaranteed monthly pension of $200 (a quite-considerable sum in 1930s dollars, which would have enabled its recipients to have lived a relatively middle class lifestyle) to every retired citizen age 60 or older, to be paid for by a form of a national sales tax of 2% on all business transactions (in reality a concept somewhat akin to a value added tax), with the stipulation that each pensioner would be required to spend the money within 30 days. The idea was to end the Depression through consumer spending by way of ending poverty among the aged. Economists generally disdained this form of taxation as being unfairly advantageous to large, vertically integrated enterprises which produced goods from the raw material all the way to the finished, saleable product over intermediary operations which were involved in only one or two steps of this process. The main argument against the plan, however, was that the taxes would not be enough to pay for the high pensions, which would account for almost half the national income. Townsend and Clements, the co-founder of the organization and its motive force, quickly amended the proposal to pay out only as much as the tax would bring in. The Townsend Plan contested old-age policy in a serious way for more than a decade. A pension is a steady income given to a person (usually after retirement). ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... A sales tax is a state or locality imposed percentage tax on the selling or renting of certain property or services. ... Value added tax (VAT) is tax on exchanges. ... Alan Greenspan, former chairman, United States Federal Reserve. ... It has been suggested that Vertical expansion be merged into this article or section. ...

Promoting the Plan

Townsend talks with Senator Sheridan Downey

Townsend and Clements employed the techniques of real estate salesmanship to gain support for the Townsend Plan. Soon there were organizers in almost every state seeking to create Townsend clubs and to sell Townsend Plan paraphernalia. But President Franklin D. Roosevelt rejected Townsend's idea as unworkable, and the organization was forced to seek so much support in Congress that it would be able to overcome presidential opposition. In 1936, after breaking with Clements and being the subject of an unfriendly congressional investigation that led to the loss of much support, Townsend allied with radio priest Father Charles Coughlin and with Gerald L. K. Smith, to back the Union Party candidacy of William Lemke for President. But Roosevelt won reelection handily, and Lemke garnered only meager support. Nonetheless, the Townsend Plan, with a new corporation called the Townsend National Recovery Plan, Inc., pressed on and won back many of its previous supporters by the end of the decade and focused on gaining influence in Congress. Image File history File links TownsendF2. ... Image File history File links TownsendF2. ... Sheridan Downey (1884-1961) was a Democratic Senator from California. ... FDR redirects here. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... . ... Father Coughlin Father Charles Edward Coughlin (October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979) was a Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigans National Shrine of the Little Flower Church. ... Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (February 27, 1898–April 15, 1976) was a leader of the Share Our Wealth movement and founder of the America First Party (1944). ... The Union Party was a short-lived political party in the United States, formed in 1936 by a coalition of radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, old-age pension advocate Francis Townsend, and Gerald L. K. Smith, who had taken control of Huey Longs Share Our Wealth movement after Long... William Frederick Lemke (August 13, 1878 – May 30, 1950), was a United States politician. ...

Influences