Spelling reform is not a new idea. Many famous people have argued in favour, as these quotes show.
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Theodore Roosevelt "It is merely an attempt [...] to make our spelling a little less foolish and fantastic." Theodore Roosevelt promoted the gradual spelling reform (mentioned by Twain below) which was devised by the Simplified Spelling Board. (Roosevelt 1906, p3)
George Orwell "[...] our existing spelling system is preposterous and must be a torment to foreign students. This is a pity, because English is well fitted to be the universal second language, if there ever is such a thing."
Despite writing this, Orwell objected to spelling reform. His objections — the difficulty of implementation, the need for "respelling the entire literature of the past," and confusing phonemic with phonetic — are all addressed in the FAQs. (Orwell 1947)
Mark Twain "[...] I disrespect our orthography most heartily, and as heartily disrespect everything that has been said by anybody in defence of it. Nothing professing to be a defence of our ludicrous spellings has had any basis, so far as my observation goes, except sentimentality. In these "arguments" the term venerable is used instead of mouldy, and hallowed instead of devilish; whereas there is nothing properly venerable or antique about a language which is not yet four hundred years old, and about a jumble of imbecile spellings which were grotesque in the beginning, and which grow more and more grotesque with the flight of the years." (Twain 2013, p274)
"It is my belief that an effort at a slow and gradual change is not worth while. [...] It is the sudden changes [...] that have the best chance of winning in our day. Can we expect a sudden change in our spelling? I think not. But I wish I could see it tried. [...] By a sudden and comprehensive rush the present spelling could be entirely changed and the substitute spelling be accepted, all in the space of a couple of years; and preferred in another couple. But it won't happen, and I am as sorry as a dog." (Twain 1997, pp208-212)
Benjamin Franklin "The same is to be observed in all the letters, vowels, and consonants, that wherever they are met with, or in whatever company, their sound is always the same. It is also intended that there be no superfluous letters used in spelling, i.e. no letter that is not sounded [...]" Franklin actually proposed a complete spelling scheme with 6 new letters. (Franklin 1806 p359)
