The New Deal didn't end the Great Depression. It exacerbated it. Only a masochist would want to repeat the New Deal. Yet, that's just what a chorus of liberal journalists sing for--a 'new' New Deal. Roosevelt couldn't spend America out of the doldrums in the 1930s. Obama won't be able to do so today. Read my article at TakiMag that compares the Hoover-Roosevelt New Deal to the Bush-Obama 'new' New Deal, bolstering the maxim that everything old is eventually new again.

The greatest generation worshipped Roosevelt as a hero largely because he was a war president during a titanic conflagration. Judged solely on his economic credentials he seems no better than Carter who would have been much worse if he were in power 13 years.

But Roosevelt ran for, won, and started his third term before the US involvement in the War. Obviously his reputation as something special, something except from the rules that govern mere mortal presidents, wasn't caused by the war. And judging by his economic performance, he seems far far worse than Carter.

The economy actually began to rebound between 1932 and 1937 when it took another hit. Roosevelt did give us the New Deal, but for all their protestations, no Republican Congress or president even bothered to argue we should undo the legacy of FDR. This doesn't mean that the New Deal was a good thing or that later presidents were hypocrites. The fact is that once government expands, it develops its own intertia, its own justification, and it's very hard to get rid of it.

I imagine we'll see the same thing with Obama. Obama will condemn the Bush legacy but will leave most of its substance in place. This is all the more reason why conservatives should be skeptical of arguments in favor of more government during a time of "crisis."

"The fact is that once government expands, it develops its own intertia, its own justification, and it's very hard to get rid of it. ... This is all the more reason why conservatives should be skeptical of arguments in favor of more government during a time of 'crisis.'"

Amen, Mr. Wilds.

Bravo, Mr. Flynn! This thought has long plagued me, but you have articulated it better than I could ever hope to!
I am constantly haunted by the observation, that we seem hell-bound to keep repeating the past. That is, we keep doing the same things, over and over again, all the while expecting different results (which is the very definition of insanity).
I sincerely hope, that this article of yours figuratively slaps some sense into those on both sides of the ailse.

The One still believes that the only reason that Roosevelt's spending didn't solve the Depression was that he didn't spend enough. So stayed tuned for more Obamunism.

"...we seem hell-bound to keep repeating the past. That is, we keep doing the same things, over and over again..."

In this case, the irony is that the powers that be *think* they have learned the lessons of the past and that they are doing it differently - at least in terms of trying to prevent our new depression. But as Dan's article demonstrates very well, they are actually doing the same thing. And the things they *are* trying to do the same are the exactly the things that did not work last Depression. They are blowing it on both counts!

In my opinion, these are not very smart people and most of them would not know an original thought if they were hit over the head with it.

Some of them may have Ivy League educations and strong political resumes but ultimately they are just arrogant, egotistical and ballsy enough to think that they know what's best for the tax serfs. It’s worrying that they believe that they are actually coming up with something new here. I think that their suspended belief requires that they only understand enough about history to pick and choose points that comfortably apply to their ‘new’ solutions.

Like Socialism and Communism, this kind of economic plan has never and will never work. But, at least the One will get to pay back all of those groups who put him into office and in the process insure the Democrat power base for some time to come.

This guy is moving so fast, it's as if he's afraid that he won't be able to screw this country up enough before they throw him out!

This is a good one. Pay back for his lawyer buddies.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28910789/

"The measure is designed to make it easier for workers to sue for decades-old discrimination. He said "this is a wonderful day."

Excellent!

Isn't there a difference between how and why 43 spent the first $350 bill and Obama's trillion dollar Democratic wish list and pay back package of 2009?

Wasn't he advised by the Secretary of the Treasury and other high level wizards of smart that the only way to save the banks and markets was to spent that money to bail them out?

Not that I agree with that either way, but the money allocated for TARP was for a specific reason and remedy while this new Obamanation bill is loaded with spending for the sake of spending and shrouded with bogus liberal scare tactics.

Am I wrong?

Our government's economic policy for the past generation has been to spend money we don't have, borrow abroad, and hope future generations will be willing to pay back the debt. This isn't Obama's policy, but the policy of every single president, Republican or Democrat.

Governments can only do so much: tax, borrow, and inflate. However, none of this is sufficient to solve our economic doldrums, but then who really has a solution? If the economy does get better then Obama will get credit for something he doesn't deserve and if the economy goes south then he'll be blamed for something he partly deserves.

It's too bad. Since Obama was elected, unemployment has risen and the stock market has tanked worse in two months than in the last eight years.

Could be that employers and the Street are battening down the hatches knowing that Obama and his government can't spend their way out of debt and to a more robust economy.