Just a reminder of why we are here

[viguy007]

The year was 1932, we were in the third year of the "Great Depression". It was a time of no hope for the future. Desperation ruled as the stock market had crashed, and banks closed never to reopen their doors. In the time it takes the eye to blink, or the heart to beat, a lifetime of savings was wiped out. Businesses failed, jobs were lost, homes and farms were foreclosed. Dreams were swept away. For many years the unemployment rate would be over 25%.

The old and disabled literally died in the street from starvation, too weak to wait for hours on breadlines at soup kitchens for a meal. World War One veterans, who had lost their homes, set up an encampment in Washington. They were calling for the bonus they had been promised after the war. But instead of being honored, they were brutally attacked and expelled by other soldiers. Hundreds of thousands homeless men, women, and children traveled from town to town, in open boxcars on the rails, and falling apart jalopies looking for work. Any job, at any wage, just to put a scrap of bread on the table and end the relentless hunger that consumed them. Fear and hopelessness lurked throughout the land.

The radio was filled with talk of revolution. The Nazis were held in high esteem. Many respected businessmen said they were the model for government efficiency and solving our problems. Politicians were talking endlessly about the need for fiscal responsibility. They said the solution to our economic crisis was to cut the budget. People wondered if the “American Dream” was dead, never to return. And in the middle of this time of crisis, this great test of democracy, three years after the "Crash of 29", there was an election. This was a time to renew the dream with a vote. Perhaps a last chance for that dream that is America.

His campaign theme song was “Happy Days Are Here Again”. On his first day in office, after he had just been sworn in, he said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". This was a man who could not walk without help from others, yet he chose to carry a whole nation on his back, to a new day of hope. Perhaps the secret of his greatness was he knew what it was like to depend on others, and how interconnected we all are. His name was Franklin D. Roosevelt, but in the hearts of this fellow Americans he was just FDR, and to many, savior of the “American Dream.

Some of the wealthy elite called him a Communist. Others said he was a Socialist. He called himself a Democrat, but he really was a Pragmatist. His ideology and program was to try something, if it does not work, try something else. He greatly increased the role of government in the economy. He had programs to provide jobs, and create a social safety net. His public works program built roads, schools, bridges, Dams and docks. He pushed for and got laws which would regulate the financial industry and banks. Laws were passed that helped workers to form Unions, thus ending the downward spiral of wages.

The economy did not zoom ahead, but people had more money in their pockets. They had a greater sense of security, and renewed hope about the future. Slowly but surely, the American Dream was once again revived. It took eight long years from the time FDR was elected, and finally the “Great Depression” was ended after a total of eleven years.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Unemployment dropped by 40% in FDR's first term

And GDP growth averaged 8+% per year.

It was an incredible recovery.

They started from a deeper hole, but FDR was a good man and a tough man who "welcomed his enemies' hatred", and fought like a bastard to get necessary legislation passed.

By contrast, our current President brags that he's out-Hoovering Hoover on economic policy.

[viguy007]

2. Obama focused too much on trying to be bipartisan

Like FDR he should have rammed his program through congress in those first 100 days, and let the chips fall where they might. The only program where he took this approach was using TARP for the saving o the auto industry, which was never authorized by congress.