FDR is usually credited with having played a major role in guiding this country through WWII. in order to finance WWII he had to move the country deep into debt. That’s what paid for the entire war effort. It also positioned this country to be a world power.
Actually, it was WWII that got us out of the depression. Kinda like now except different. It was spending $6 trillion on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and the deregulation of the insurance, investment and banking industries that got us to this point. But, this recession/depression didn’t start on Obama’s shift.
It’s a similar situation to the Great Depression. There were a succession of Republican administrations that got us into that situation, too.
Warren Harding – 1921-23
Calvin Coolidge – 1923-29
Herbert Hoover – 1929-33
They created the Great Depression and the voters finally turned to FDR to clean up the mess.
He had no choice but to basically create the national debt. It was the only economic financial tool remaining to him and he used it to finance our ability to fight/win WWII. It took many successive administrations to pay down the national debt but, it was better than remaining in the depression and losing WWII.
Each successive administration, republican and democratic worked conscientiously to pay down the debt and they did up to but not including Reagan/Bush. Since then, with the exception of the Clinton administration, the debt has increased significantly.
It’s interesting to note that, the time spent paying down the national debt was also a time of unprecedented economic prosperity for America. Know how that happened?
The government believed it should govern. Not BE governed by corporations, lobbyists and rich people. There was a common sense of morality which permeated the country. That’s long gone. That’s obvious just by listening to the republikan media. So, you can see how people might not want to return to the policies that set us up for this mess.
Was there partisan politics back then. You bet. But, not like today. Today it’s more than vicious. It’s borderline treasonous. That word used to have some meaning but, not any more, it seems.
Eisenhower (a republican) WARNED us about the military-industrial establishment and we didn’t listen. He should have included the oil industry and the insurance, banking and investment industries and lobbyists, too.
Every day since the day he took office, Obama has been blamed for not turning the situation around quicker. For not creating jobs to replace the ones THEY EXPORTED. Six months into his administration, some were STILL denying that there even WAS a recession.
It’s going to take a long time to undue the damage caused by twenty long years of spending and corruption. The recovery is going to take several years and isn’t going to be without setbacks. So, partisan politicians are going to have every opportunity to point the crooked finger and criticize every time something doesn’t go just exactly right.
Connecticut Politics 