New Deal or Raw Deal

Think back to your days as an American History student.  There was one thing that has always stood out from my classes in high school and college; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an important Presidential figure, if not the best President this country has ever elected.  Name your top 5 favorite Presidents.   FDR will probably fall somewhere in your list, unless you have truly analyzed his policies and how they have affected the United States.

Three event that I have always associated with FDR's presidency are the Great Depression, The New Deal, and World War II.  FDR was always credited by my History teachers as being the man who implemented the New Deal, which got the nation out of the Great Depression.  This false-truth is far from accurate.  The New Deal actually exasperated the depression.  Furthermore, many of the New Deal's programs adversely affected the the lower and middle-classes; the people who were intended to be helped by these policies.

Many American citizens look at some of the legislation that Barack Obama is pushing through congress, and think that we are in deep trouble.  I couldn't agree with you more, but some of the programs that Roosevelt put into place were not only unpopular, but some were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, after implementation.

Think about the entitlement programs of the New Deal, like Social Security.  Roosevelt was the first President who pushed to the American people that they were "entitled" to something from the Government.  This "entitlement" attitude has persisted since his presidency, and many would argue has become worse. 

During one of Roosevelt's campaigns, utilizing his public works program, he had 300,000 workers hired just before the election.  Once he was voted into office, those 300,000 public workers were let go.  Roosevelt used government funds, not to help citizens in the long run, but to stay in power as long as possible.  By targeting key swing states, Roosevelt was able to direct federal dollars to that state.  Even in traditionally Republican states, Roosevelt won re-election.  However, after Roosevelt's death, the US Congress put term limits on the President... I guess Roosevelt wasn't really as popular as the textbooks make him out to have been.

Now assimilate this trend from the late thirties and forties to the present day...The public are tired of the excessive spending of the Washington bureaucrats - by Democrats AND Republicans.  This Fall it will not matter where federal dollars are directed to helping in the re-election of some incumbents.  The people are angry tired of Washington games.

I highly recommend reading New Deal or Raw Deal.  This book is a careful analysis of the Keynesian policies of the New Deal and the reason those policies have always failed.  I give this book 5 BIG stars!  Please click here purchase the book at Barnes and Noble or on the above picture!

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