Elections Have Consequences!

The great mystery of the Great Depression was why it lasted for 14 long years.  UCLA economists Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian spent four years pouring over the data from the Great Depression. "The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required..."said Cole.  "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."  

Their report estimates that millions of Americans needlessly stood on breadlines, watered down milk to feed their families and lived in tatters for an additional seven years thanks to FDR's misguided stimulus policies.  Most were so grateful for anything, they never realized the president was the cause of their extended suffering.

There's One Born Every Minute!

FDR won his first two terms by attacking the wealthy and pitting them against poor Americans.  In 1932 he promised to "cut government operations by 25% and lower taxes", but did neither. 

In 1936, he overwhelmingly won by raising taxes on the rich then redistributing the money to larger voting blocks in swing states using the WPA, Silver Purchase Act and the Agricultural Act. 

By 1940, needing businesspeople to win the war, he called for unity among the same people he divided and won another decisive victory. 

In 1944, FDR sidestepped laws prohibiting union money in elections by forming the nation's first Political Action Committee.  This provided urban labor support. Fearing a backlash by Japanese prisoners if released from internment camps, he created an executive order to keep them imprisoned until 3 days after the elections.  To gain the Polish American vote, FDR promised special treatment for Poland after the war.  He won nearly 90% of their vote, and then betrayed the group by failing to offer the promised "self-determination" for Poland at the Yalta conference.  Still, he won a fourth slim victory. 

Upon his death, the NYT wrote, "Men will thank God on their knees 100 years from now FDR was in the White House."!

The President's $8 Billion Coincidence

Between budget battles and elections, politicians and media supporters spin wildly to advance their own positions, leaving the public misinformed. In this column we will attempt to unravel some of the worst spins.

Worst Economy, I think!

In 2008, now Pres. Obama said "we are in the worst economy since the Great Depression."

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Presidential  Whoppers!

During the Healthcare Summit and his 2010 State of the Union message, Pres. Obama declared the healthcare bill would cut the federal deficit. 

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