Boy were they ever wrong.....

[jillan]

A little FDR history:
He was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms. By March there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first "hundred days," he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

By 1935 the Nation had achieved some measure of recovery, but businessmen and bankers were turning more and more against Roosevelt's New Deal program. They feared his experiments, were appalled because he had taken the Nation off the gold standard and allowed deficits in the budget, and disliked the concessions to labor. Roosevelt responded with a new program of reform: Social Security, heavier taxes on the wealthy, new controls over banks and public utilities, and an enormous work relief program for the unemployed.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt

Of all the hysteria over the last month on this debt ceiling, the one thing that I can't get over is that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are no longer sacred. And this was offered up by a Democratic President.

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" is a far cry from the fear tactics that are being used today.

President Obama, you are no FDR.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Nope, more like Millard Fillmore

[Mojorabbit]

5. Theres some shifty looking eyes! nt

[villager]

15. God, the way it's going, "Mallard Fillmore..."

Alas.

[jaxx]

2. Sessions or Hatch used that same poster in their anti speech today.

FDR is dead. FDR was not perfect, but he did have a huge majority.

[msongs]

3. FDR had vision and was willing to fight for democratic party principles nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. YES! nt

[roguevalley]

20. FDR saved America. Four times President is not to be unestimated.

He had a pair and used them, unlike President Carebear who doesn't care if children starve in this country which they are.

[jaxx]

22. Really? And he did it all in 2.5 years too?

Did people call FDR names too?

[LaydeeBug]

23. Well he sure as hell didn't bend over for the other side and then brag about being flexible. nt

[jaxx]

24. Were you there?

Idealists can't fathom compromise, they are much too rigid. FDR had them too. I'm sure they said he bent over and made fun of his fireside chats. But then in 16 years and a war to bring the economy back stopped all that. Not like today when 2.5 years is all there is and the big shove to push him out is on.

[MannyGoldstein]

25. Unemployment and GDP turned around within months

And of course people called FDR names.

[jaxx]

30. It doesn't appear to have happened that fast:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

[MannyGoldstein]

31. Your GDP graph clearly makes my point

The unemployment graph is a little tough to read, but it seems to put the peak of unemployment at more like 1934, which is bizarre and probably wrong - every other source (including the BLS) puts the peak at 1933, e.g.:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

28. If someone called me a name, the LAST thing you'e see me do, is beg someone to like me or my plans

The last.

[jaxx]

29. Ok, let me know when you're president.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

36. I may be wrong, but I don't think presidents have to turn to mush when they're called names

I think they have to be the opposite. I think presidents have to be tougher than regular people. Otherwise, why be there? A president is supposed to be tough, strong, and put on a strong image.

[madamesilverspurs]

4. Didn't vote for him to be FDR.

I voted for a community organizer.

Sorry, I refuse to be disappointed.


-

[elocs]

6. Huh? I voted for a president, not a community organizer.

My expectations were far, far higher than that.

[vi5]

8. Remember how pissed people got....

When Repubs would derisively call Obama "a community organizer" and everyone got all in a snit over it because it diminished his other accomplishments?

Now this is I believe the 4th or 5th time in 2 days that I've seen a post where someone uses this as a badge of honor among the apologist crowd. Is this a new talking point I wonder, to be added alongside all the others? I figured they need a new one since a bunch of recent polls are showing the "84% of liberal democrats approve of him!!!" seems to be losing it's luster.

[jaxx]

18. Who are you calling aplogists?

And who are you anyway?

[woo me with science]

39. LOL.

I was just thinking that I really like that song by Carly Simon: "You probably think this song is about you."

:evilgrin:

And who is anybody here, anyway? Who are you?

[chalky]

21. Boy, you remember things a lot differently than I do. The objection I recall was that they tried

to make "community organizer" a pejorative, along the lines of what they did to "liberal".

Remember this?:



That was proudly worn by "community organizers" everywhere.

[jaxx]

17. You got a president and a damned good one.

Nobody's perfect.

[ProSense]

7. "the hysteria over the last month on this debt ceiling"

would have been right up FDR's alley.

<...>

FDR’s initial response to the Great Depression provides an interesting case in point, for Roosevelt came into office as something of a fiscal conservative. In keeping with the fiscal orthodoxy of the time, he called for a balanced budget during his campaign, was reluctant to deficit spend once in office, and even pressed for the successful passage of the 1933 Economy Act as one of his first major pieces of legislation-an act which cut federal spending by nearly 250 million dollars during the first months of his administration.

<...>

Further evidence of FDR’s inherent fiscal conservatism can be seen in his decision to cut federal spending at the start of his second term-a move which resulted in the so called “Roosevelt recession” of 1937-38 and which led to the first increase in the unemployment rate since his assumption of office in 1933. Stunned by this unfortunate turn of events, FDR began to heed the advice of those who advocated the economic policies of John Maynard Keynes. In 1938, therefore, the President would submit a budget that called for an increase in federal spending but without any concomitant increase in federal taxes. The resulting deficit, the President argued, was necessary to enhance “the purchasing power of the nation” so as to expand the economy-and the tax revenues that would flow from it-and reduce unemployment.

link

FDR's legacy includes the FDIC.

Obama's legacy will include the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau">CFPB.

Different times, different men, different legacies.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Unlike Obama, FDR tried both Conservative and Liberal experiments

And quickly dropped the Conservative ones during his first term, when it became clear that they did not work. Which is why, in FDR's first term, unemployment dropped by 40% and GDP grew 8% per year - while real unemployment grows ever-higher under Obama, and GDP growth is tanking.

FDR fucked up by trying Conservative stuff again in 1937, but when that clearly sucked again, he abandoned Conservative ideals for good.

[ProSense]

14. Well, look at this way

Obama is getting all his "conservative and liberal experiments" out of the way, and he's only two and a half years into his Presidency.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jaxx]

19. How about that!

Looks like FDR was human after all. To see it here he was made of gold and didn't pee.

[mmonk]

9. We need an FDR who said

"They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred"

instead of a we need a "bipartisan" bill. Bipartisan bills are Republican these days if they ever get through. Zero progressivism.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Unfair. Just as FDR stood up to the wealthy "economic royalists", Obama has

stood up to the old, the poor, and the sick. Aren't you tired of paying entitlements to that crowd?

[Proles]

11. Well it's not like FDR didn't make mistakes.

Japanese internment anyone?

But I do agree that FDR's economic programs were very progressive, and are the things we need to at least see protected, if not expanded.

[white_wolf]

16. Part of the reason is no one is pushing Obama.

FDR enacted a lot of his reforms to help stop what he perceived as a socialist revolution. Some of the ideas of the New Deal were lifted from Norman Thomas's platform. Socialism was a much stronger force back then than it is today and that is a big reason politics have gone so far to the right.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. Yep. He's only willing to smile and try to be loved by the GOP. nt

[Morizovich]

32. This isn't the 1930s

Not saying I agree with what Obama's doing on this issue: I don't. Simply recognizing a different time and reality.

[B Calm]

33. I remember back in the 50s the VFW had family picnics at the old CCC camp.

Dad showed us three kids the cabin he lived in during the depression years. He explained how FDR saved the United States from the depression era and put America back to work.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. FDR was in office for 3 (going on 4) terms with control of BOTH houses

yet for some nefarious reason, DU pundits compare this with a President in office for less than 1 term, with 1/2 of that time under a divided congress. The false equivalency and historical time compression boggles the mind. :crazy:

[treestar]

38. Yes, and it's also with rose colored glasses 80 years old

If they really looked into it, they'd find FDR having problems, too.

[blindpig]

35. Yep, we got Hoover instead. n/t

[treestar]

37. FDR didn't have 24/7 media and the internet

In those days, the news was filtered to that which had some evidence to back it up. Editorializing was by people who became editors of newspapers. Not just anybody, like now.

So I really don't think FDR would have done any better if he were President now.