[quote]thor wrote:
BJBliffert wrote:
If I could could I would grind his face off of every single dime in the U.S. I think he is responsable for enabling people to suck on the governments teet while contributing nothing to our society.
Amen Brother - I could not afford another FDR - or as I call him the American Stalin[/quote]
So…FDR killed roughly 30 million of his own people? You, sir, are an idiot.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Those of you blaming FDR for starting government programs need to remember a few things:
You make a good point but the problem is twofold. First, many economists question whether FDR’s solution to the Great Depression was a solution at all. Many believe, and I agree, that those same government programs may have actually prolonged the depression. It was, after all, the war that really ended the depression. We’ll never really know for sure if government programs were a solution or a hindrance but I agree with Milton Friedman when he says,
"Roosevelt’s policies were very destructive. Roosevelt’s policies made the depression longer and worse than it otherwise would have been. What pulled us out of the depression was the natural resilience of the economy + WW2.
You know, it’s a mystery as to why people think Roosevelt’s policies pulled us out of the Depression. The problem was that you had unemployed machines and unemployed people. How do you get them together by forming industrial cartels and keeping prices and wages up? That’s what Roosevelt’s policies in the New Deal amounted to. Essentially, increasing the role of government, enhancing the monopolistic position of labor, and creating as I said before the equivalent of price fixing cartels made things worse. So most of his policies were counterproductive."
Secondly, and I think this is where his legacy is really destructive, FDR let the government’s foot in the door. I am a firm believer in the “slippery slope” theory. Once the precedence is set and government is given more power, things snowball and before you know it, nothing short of revolution is needed to take that power away. Its like opening Pandora’s Box.
[quote]
2. More blame should be placed on possibly the worst President whoever lived: Lyndon Johnson for his “war on poverty.” The programs set up during LBJ’s administration cost the taxpayers for many many years to come. It also encouraged a system of government dependence which still exists today. [/quote]
You wont get an argument from me on that one but it was FDR that got the ball rolling…LBJ just gave it another shove.
[quote]LBRTRN wrote:
You know, it’s a mystery as to why people think Roosevelt’s policies pulled us out of the Depression.
[/quote]
I never said that Roosevelt’s policies pulled us out of the depression. What I may not have communicated effectively was the fact that people were hurting badly during the depression. A large part of the population was literally starving!
My father lived through it and I have first hand accounts of what it was like during those years. Not that this is necessary, as there are some fabulous books written about the pain which our populace underwent.
What FDR did was alleviate some of that pain with various make work government programs. It not only put some money in peoples pockets, it also gave them back some pride. Being paid for an honest days work has that effect.
I certainly agree that WWII pulled us out of the depression. However, prior to that something had to be done to help the people and FDR did that. For this he should be forever admired.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
LBRTRN wrote:
You know, it’s a mystery as to why people think Roosevelt’s policies pulled us out of the Depression.
I never said that Roosevelt’s policies pulled us out of the depression. What I may not have communicated effectively was the fact that people were hurting badly during the depression. A large part of the population was literally starving!
My father lived through it and I have first hand accounts of what it was like during those years. Not that this is necessary, as there are some fabulous books written about the pain which our populace underwent.
What FDR did was alleviate some of that pain with various make work government programs. It not only put some money in peoples pockets, it also gave them back some pride. Being paid for an honest days work has that effect.
[/quote]
I definitely respect your sentiment. My grandfather lived through the Depression and fought in WWII and consequently has a deep respect for FDR. I dont question FDR’s motivations and his actions certailny helped lift this country out of its psychological depression and there is something to be said for that. However, much of the unemployment and poverty during the time was due to government intervention in the first place. Things like the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1929, Hoover’s wage policy, tax increases (from 1929 to 1939 taxes tripled), and increased economic regulation all contributed to the Great Depression. I just think that what FDR did ended up doing more harm than good and everyone would have been better served had he scaled back government encroachment on the market.
Did you guys know that FDR forbade the use of poison gas during WW2? That means that the islands that the Marines had to take by brute force could have been taken with little loss on the American side. Ask a Tarawa or Canal vet if he enjoyed taking those miserable stinking islands as we did.
IMO, FDR should have had to do a lot of explaining on that one, especially to a lot of USMC families left behind.