Last Sunday I wanted to throw a shoe (Ok, both shoes) at the talking heads decrying the negatives over the Stimulus Package. On almost every show some conservative shouted out that the New Deal didn't work during the Great Depression. I knew they were wrong so I did my homework and this is what I discovered:
1. The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) produced over 2,750,000 jobs;
2. The WPA was at work in every county in the nation producing dams, bridges, water systems, roads and sever systems;
3. That same group built almost every library and public school in its 9 year existence, with employment near 3,000,000;
4. The F.D.I.C. was created (where would we be without it today?)
5. The Security and Exchange Commission was created (it has failed us of late, but the idea is solid if "regulation" were placed back into force;
6. Photographers, artists, and musicians of every stripe were hired to maintain our cultural heritage;
7. The Tennessee Valley Authority brought forth thousands of jobs, bringing electricity to rural communities and farms; and,
7. It worked!
Most of the conservatives who waved off this Keynesian Theory dismissed its value by saying it was only WWII that stopped the economic collapse. Not true. Such pseudo-logic completely leap-frogs over 9 years of hunger, strife, and family separation that would have been further exacerbated without such a program.
Now, go win the debate!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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I love your blog! I am a closet political junkie. But I have to ask... how in the heck did you end up on MY blog?!? I don't get many political bloggers (for obvious resons :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Del! The repugs have hated the New Deal since day one and have tried to kill it since then as well. What you never hear though is why it was needed in the first place? The answer is of course, free market capitalism with no oversight. The Great Depression was caused by the repugs then, just as our current economic crisis was caused by repugs now.
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