Back to the Future. If the Republicans gain control of the Senate and House, we're in for another deep recession. Maybe even a depression with unemployment soaring double what it is today.
How can I say that? Easy. Just read the history books. Back in 1937, the economy was building out of the depression because of FDR's spending progams and work projects like the WPA. That was too much for the Republicans. They revolted and formed the Conservative Coalition -- a mixture of Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats.
The Conservative Coalition pushed through a broad set of disastrous economic changes, including balancing the budget and drastically cutting Federal spending and bringing WPA projects to a standstill. The American economy took a sharp downturn. And unemployment jumped from about eight percent to well over 20 percent. It wasn't until the increased spending of World War II that the economy once again rebounded. At the War's end, Federal spending totaled over 41% of the GDP, and the GDP itself grew over 70% during the War, so that represented a huge increase in spending. But guess what, that spending took us out of a depression and made the US a world power.
How many times do the Republicans have to hear the message. When unemployment is high and the economy is in the basement, you increase Federal spending. You don't balance the budget.
President Obama has wisely followed FDR's recovery strategy, and it's now beginning to work. After all, you can't turn around the economic mess of the Bush years in a year or two. Let's not repeat the disaster of 1937. Fortunately, millions of citizens believe this is the correct course for our country to follow. I hope they all get out to vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment