Quote:
Originally Posted by BiGWiLL
We are about due for another Franklin Roosevelt.
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I hope not, the last one made policy changes that are still in effect and are not very effective.
FDR's changes were made on the belief and opinion that capitalism was a failing ideal. FDR was elected 4 times to office. Happy Times Are Here Again was his campaigns theme song, but it was hardly reality. The economy did not see the end of the Great Depression as a result of his policies. The economy maintained a relatively static level. When he first took office, unemployment was 25%, at his re-election it was 20%, hardly miraculous recovery. FDR's policies are not what got the U.S. out of the Great Depression, WWII and the world that was defined after WWII did.
JFK gave tax relief to a country that was seeing tax rates as high as 90%, Reagan did the same after the 70's saw 70% and this country had a misery index. Clinton's tax decisions were made in order to keep the status quo, and CNN gave him credit for creating the most economically successful administration ever. I remember, my wife and I each had two of Clinton's jobs just to make ends meet. They were the jobs created by businesses that were expanding in the wake of the tax policies of the eighties. When Bush took office, these same jobs were no longer good jobs, they were all underpaying jobs. How quickly we redefine history for political expedience.
I have no doubt that the Bush tax cuts prolonged the inevitable effect of selling off debt and over extending this countries credit line. Presidents have been doing this for a long time. Clinton sold off enough debt to put America back in the black. You don't think Clinton actually paid those debts off, do you? We don't pay off debts in this country, we sell assets and information to other countries so they will pay our debt for us. Clinton sold MIRV (Multiple Independent Release Vehicle, the same technology that works for deploying satellites and nuclear warheads) technology to the Chinese, and magically we were out of debt in this country. Ok, it was a little more involved than that, but my point is that this is nothing new.
By the way, did you know that we spend like 3 or 4 times as much on education in this country as on the war, every year? T. Boon Pickens illustrates that we spend 4 times as much on foreign oil as we do the war every year. Just to put things into financial perspective.
There will always be room for business in this country because we are a country of consumers. We need to become a country of builder, innovators, creators, manufacturers, and makers again. We need to tighten our belts and be willing to make better money decisions, instead of insisting on getting that brand new Lexus as a first car because we think it's really cute and, heck, our credit can handle it, and "Daddy" will bail me out if I lose my really fun mall job at Forever 21. We need to be honest about the things we can afford and the things we can't, both as individuals and as a country. We need to let struggle those institutions that made bad choices in lending, and oust the kinds of politicians who mandated those loans be made. We need to allow for the termination or suspension of certain government aid programs because we just can't afford them, and China won't buy the debt associated with it forever.
This is not a bad economy, but these are tougher times. Not nearly as tough as those during the Great Depression, so get over the idea that you have it bad. I am shamed by a country that whines ands whimpers at the first sign that the media declared party that raged in the nineties is over and we have to go back to work. But work we must.
This country went to the moon because we decided to go. This country helped end WWI and WWII because we decided to go. Now the country that roles up it's sleeves and and drives on in the face of adversity is going to go have a pity party for itself because we have to go to work and nobody seems to like us?
I got one thing to say to both the U.S. government and the American people who are to busy whining they can't get anything done.
GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!!!!
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