Repeat Of History, The FDR effect

FDR is one of our great presidents, make no doubt that he helped this nation through some of its most troubled time.

But historians do in fact blame the policies of FDR for extending and making the great depression worse for everyone. For example, the decision to let banks fail is something that was avoided with the current financial meltdown. Supporting and propping up financial instituations has prevented a great meltdown and a complete seizure of the financial markets.

Still, many jobs are going to be lost - the middle class is going to suffer more over the coming months and more banks are going to fail.

However, it is clear that an Obama presidency and a democratic party in control of the Whitehouse, Congress and Senate will ravage these lands with change that is not needed. And in fact, will be dangereous to this country's welfare and could see the financial meltdown and recession turn into a depression.

First, businesses are going to leave this country in a hurry and continue to move operations overseas to more friendly countries. In Ireland they have a 11% tax on business. In the U.S. we have a 35% tax. We are living in a global economy and any hint that we are going to prevent the best price for a job or service be limited to the U.S. will not go over too well with the businesses that run this country.

We can not afford any more social programs; whether that be healthcare, unions, social programs or the many things that a liberal or socialist party wishes to provide. Heck, we don't even know if social security will remain solvent after 2030! We are in so much debt to other nations that if they called all of the treasury notes we would go bankrupt!

While the promise of a tax break for 95% of Americans sounds good, it really is not what we need at this point. The fact that we are going to tax people and businesses heavily over $250,000 is just going to encourage them to move their assets overseas. In the end, with an Obama presidency and Democrat Congress/Senate I am certain that for businesses and corporations there will be a mass excodus from the U.S. This will result in loss of jobs across the board.

What Americans fail to understand, is that the policies of the past will not work. Unions have destroyed the American automotive industry by making us not competitive. Liberal policies have given our children in our schools more say in what they want to do, and I can attest it is not studing more. Meanwhile, across the oceans in China, Japan, India - the children are drilled with education and willingly submit to furthering their education.

I am concerned that an Obama presidency will in fact mirror the FDR policies of the Great Depression which have been proven to have made things much worse for that time period.

History therefore stands a good chance of repeating the darkest days of the depression if in fact the American people are made to believe that CHANGE is in fact going to help them.

Change will not help us. Hardwork, living within our means and educating ourselves and our children is the best thing that will help this country maintain their quality of life. Pretty boring stuff.........

Sometimes you have to go against the water and this is a time when the Obama bandwagon, in my opinion, stands a real chance of tearing this country apart then bringing it together.

Here is a glimpse of things to come:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/polit...healthcare.html

I couldn't agree more!
Unfortunatly I belive we will have this shoved down our throat
"for our own good" by the blind!

Your assesments are correct. Most important is control of the House and Senate. The president can do little without them. Unfortunately my political leanings appear to be loosing at this time, at least on the presidential level.

Slàinte,   

 Patch    

I picked up on the word "submit" and fell compelled to reply! Many liberal thinkers (not Democrats necessarily) have come to view the word "submit" as something horrible and vulnerable. There are times and situations when we must submit to someone in higher autthority. Our schools are one of those places. There is an important rule involved w/submitting oneself and that is to "obey". Not all relationships are necessarily partnerships. In our schools, children have learned that they can wield power and liberal parents have backed this notion. On the other hand it does not mean teachers should go about waving a stick and bullying their students in a dictatorial way. We need solid authoritative teachers. When children learn this, they tend to move into the social structures in the world of business and life, with more discipline. Good teachers know when to begin introducing a more consultative and participitave style (generally in the later grades), as students mature and have established the appropriate boundaries of respect. I see our schools as a microcosm of greater society. Their is little respect for rules and our country is paying a heavy price. The result? Kids growing up into adults who believe rules don't apply to them, ethical decline, sense of entitlement, and knee-jerk socialism.

Schools are the breeding ground for tomorrow's leaders.

Jillian

Paul, I may have mis-read what you were saying, but I got the impression you said FDR allowed the banks to fail. Not so. He was sworn in on March 4, the next day, March 5, 1933, he declared a bank holiday for four days thereby stopping the runs on banks. While the banks were closed, he pushed throught the Emergency Banking Act (passed both houses and signed on March 9) so that when the banks reopened the next Monday, they had federal approval. Later in the same year he pushed the Banking Act of 1933 which, among other things, set up the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). While FDR couldn't solve the depression, he did not cause it or make it worse. It was caused by a combination of world economic policies and a Wall Street that was even more out of control than the one today.

Obama can, and if elected, will make our current situation worse. Paul is 100% correct in his assessment that taxing small business even more will cause loss of jobs. They may not migrate to foreign countries in mass quantity, but they will close. If anyone believes that we need change now, let Obama enact his ideals on this nation and the whole world will cry for change. But Bush will still get the blame.

You are right, my post made it sound like FDR was responsible for the bank failures. Not true, although FDR's New Deal which has gone down as an American success really may not have been that much of a success:

"They argued that the New Deal had been very hostile to business expansion in 1935–37, had encouraged massive strikes which had a negative impact on major industries such as automobiles, and had threatened massive antitrust legal attacks on big corporations. All those threats diminished sharply after 1938. For example, the antitrust efforts fizzled out without major cases. The CIO and AFL unions started battling each other more than with the corporations, and tax policy became more favorable to long-term growth, according to this argument."

By 1937 a second deeper recession was taking hold and employment rates which had previously been reducing jumped. It was not until the war effort that things started turning around. Massive spending by the government for the war effort finally turned things around.

Unfortunately we do not have those options available to us today, and be it right or wrong, we have to insure that our industrial base returns. War is no longer an option as we do not have the industry to gear up and the next global war is not likely to be land based. It will be a war of missiles and air power. (not necessarily by our choice)

Slàinte,    

Patch