WSJournal Says "Start Stockpiling Food!" 700 Club Says "Ditch the Dollar Now!"

[Midway ®]

The point is we want to avoid having the government implementing the same boneheaded policies now that brought on the Great Depression then. 

...........and prolonged it by short-sighted, socialistic policies that only made matters worse.

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Do you mean that the depression was prolonged by things like the TVA & the WPA?

[jaxnative]

Yes, partly.  The TVA and WPA were workfare programs that did nothing to bring us out of the depression. The workfare workers were erroneously counted as employed which made the true unemployment numbers look better than they were and slowed recovery by tying up resources that would have been better employed in the private sector.  I think Louis Armstrong's 1940 hit says it best in these lyrics, "..Sleep while you work, rest while you play, lean on your shovel, to pass the time away, at the WPA..". But these were minor impediments to recovery among the many foisted on the country by FDR and his administration.

As resources, to start, I would suggest FDR's Folly by Jim Powell, Freedom from Fear, by David M Kennedy, and information from Thomas Sowell's writings.

[Midway ®]

I must disagree with you on this subject.

Having a great deal of first hand knowledge relating to the projects undertaken and built by the TVA & the WPA.

And while i have a great deal of respect and admiration for Louis Armstrong as both an artist and a human being, I must also say that his perspective was very different than that of the people who ran those projects.

You also should keep in mind that the labor content of those projects was the LEAST expensive content of the job.

Jim Powell is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and thats his axe to grind, tear down anything democratic, most of that book is pure Rovian propaganda.

As for David Kennedy's book, he is not so clear on that side of things.

And you will find that people with first hand knowledge of this subject would not be so quick to denigrate those solutions.

Ocklawaha, any thoughts on this?

Don't go down the Riversidegator one dimensional path. Thats just his act. Don't make it your life.

[Midway ®]

Which would mean that under Reagan, when almost 1/6 of the entire US economy was either military or military related, we must have been going through the worst unemployment crisis in out history.

You think that's bad? 85% of the current domestic manufacturing activity is being done for the US Government.

[jaxnative]

I am not saying that some of the projects were not beneficial.  We are discussing the policies implemented after the Crash.  You can twist the arguments any way you like but the fiscal and monetary policies of FDR and his administration were a failure.  FDR was a voice of optimism and hope for many people in a society so different from our information age.  But facts are facts no matter how much you disagree with or label those who put the information out.

[gatorback]

Yeah, ever since Bush Sr. and the Clinton's allowed all of the private manufacturing to leave the country.

Why is that Toyota,  BMW, MB, and VW just to name a few have opened plants in america?  I think what you're really trying to say is that they've let the Amercan manufactures go to Mexico.  Well, Bill did that.  I don't think  Bush Sr. could even spell policy let alone implement one.

[gatorback]

NAFTA yeah!  I love NAFTA.  I'm gonna go buy some mexican rice before the big increase on Monday.  You ran a  successful restaurant.  What were you noticing about your cost of goods over the last 2 years?  Did Wal-Mart help you keep your cost down?

[jaxnative]

few solid examples.

What I need to see is solid proof that the American economy was coming out of the depression as a result of FDR's policies before WWII.  I would be glad to research any information you can point me to showing me those facts.

[Midway ®]

Stephen, did you notice a little someone who is conspicuous by their absence, in terms of support for the theory that FDR further ruined the economy with the implementation of the New Deal?

[gatorback]

I'll report live from the rice isle.

[Midway ®]

It would appear that the general historical consensus opposes Jaxnative's views on FDR.

That the cato institute seeks to publish a work of revisionist history really does not change that historical consensus.

Given the fact that that consensus exists, then, rightfully, the burden of proof falls upon Jaxnative, not you.

There are literally thousands of sources that support the reasoning behind and the efficacy of the New Deal, and FDR's policies.

Otherwise, it would be like him asking you to prove that gravity exists.

[Midway ®]

I'll report live from the rice isle.

Don't bother with flour, though. $2.59/5lb bag. Last year, 98 cents @ Publix.

[Midway ®]

church.

Good. Hopefully it's the Trinity United Church of Christ. He does need some grounding and old time religion.

[Midway ®]

The US patent office refuses to accept applications for patents on perpetual motion machines.

[gatorback]

Live from the rice isle: