President Herbert Hoover

Sunday night on WPBS Wis channel there was a fascinating show about President Hoover. I thought that I was watching recent events, eerily similar. From the banks destroying the economy, to the constant sniping of the new President, to the former Presidents belief that charity will save the day. President Hoover was really the first President that believed that charity could improve the lives of the people. But, he also practiced his mantra in a big way. After watching his story I am convinced that he believed the wealthy would organize to help the new poor. They didn't much like today, instead much of their wealth was derived by essentially ripping off these very people, much like today.

Much of the program focused on Hoover as Secretary of Commerce. Where today you would call him a liberal. All in all a very interesting program about a President that is not covered much in history but probably should be given that the depression started under his administration so maybe it is a good thing that Texas has rewritten their history standards.

Gun rights protesters

Did anyone other than me find it a little ironic that yesterday's gun protest in the National Park about how President Obama is coming for your gun could only take place because President Obama signed a law allowing guns in National Parks. I am sorry it is hard to take the group serious. To top it off they protested in a State where you need a permit to carry a concealed weapon and had the nerve to carry signs saying what about "not be infringed don't you understand". I would say that the act of having to get a permit, which usually entails taking a class is an infringement. Much like the TEA party there needs to be more thought put in these protests. And also like the TEA party where were they 6 years ago, nothing has changed. The gun control lobby give the President an F, yeah he's coming for you in the dead of night.

Tax day or Teabag party day

Ah, tomorrow is tax day. I remember when it was only a handful of Libertarians showing up at the main post office in Madison. Now we are going to have thousands at the capitol. Wow what a change. I'm with the tea party on bailouts. Unfortunately at the time I was for it, because we had all of these people saying that if we didn't rescue the banks the economy would collapse. I don't think that it could have turned out worse if we let them go under. I'm with the tea party on taxes, but what I want to know is why they haven't seized on expenditures and regulations that don't make sense. Why aren't they protesting grazing cattle on federal land. Sure the ranchers pay but it doesn't compare to say what a Wisconsin farmer pays. They own the land and pay taxes (admittedly at a lower rate) on their property. What about the subsidized water in California, Arizona, Nevada,... Do you realize that these desert states pay less for water than we do? The source of this cheap water is Federal projects paid for by the rest of the country. Isn't this odd given most of the West's anti government stance? What about Alaska? We allow big energy to lease land, at no where near fair market prices. Big energy is heavily taxed by the State of Alaska (I know hard to believe given Governor Palin) and some of that money is rebated to the citizens of Alaska. I have news for you this is really our money (those of us in the lower 48). Talk about a re-distribution of wealth money from the lower 48 to the upper 1. Finally, what about the Eau Claire rule for dairy farming? This is the dumbest regulation ever created. First of all dairy should trade like other goods. Second farmers in theis region should not be put at a disadvantage to someone who is raising dairy cows in a desert with water paid for by the US taxpayer.

Edgewater Hotel

In a supreme test of irony the conservatives are up in arms that Mayor Dave won't drop the hotel project. These are the same people who accuse the Mayor of being anti business and the guy who didn't throw enough money at Famous Footwear. Of course these people don't want their taxes to go up or be used to lure business which brings us to the Edgewater. The Mayor has gone big to get the hotel to do an expansion. He cites job creation and all of the other Republican talking points but yet they are opposed. My guess is that if the Mayor was a Republican they wouldn't be able to sign on fast enough.

The party of NO has become a detriment to this country. We can't have civil discussions about policy even when those policies are ones that they have historically favored (as recently as last year). Good luck to them on winning elections, even better luck governing.

FDR caused the Great Depression, how's that?

I was reading the blog the Griper Blade and the first comment repeated the new version of depression history that FDR caused the depression or at the very least prolonged it. Then I was watching the train wreck of a campaign rally with Hanity, Palin, and Bachmann and it was repeated again. As was the often linked everyone knows that we only recovered from the depression because of WWII. Gee, I don't know but when FDR took office the unemployment rate was nearly 25% and it went down from there. FDR saved this country from a potential revolution. In addition to the depression you had drought across the plains. The lack of jobs in the rural areas led to young, jobless, single men to go to the cities. This is bad at any time so FDR gave them jobs and dispersed them throughout the rural parts of the country. As for the causes of the depression many economists now say that an unregulated economy was a contributing factor especially the financial sector (hmm sounds familar). This is what characterized the boom and bust economies every 10 years leading up to the depression. From the time FDR regulated the financial markets to the Carter administration when regulations started to come off this country became the world's economic power.

Now the WWII myth. It is always told like the private sector fought that war and turned the economy around. I guess that is true when you consider that the entire economy was either directly or indirectly being supported and directed by the government. This was hardly capitalism with wage controls and rationing. Where WWII can take credit for pulling us out of the depression is after the war. We were the only industrialized country that was not completely devastated by the war. American industry was the driver during re-building. But what to do to get workers, wage controls were still on? For the first time benefits were offered to Joe worker, cars, housing allowances, and the all important employer based health care.

No, it was hardly FRD's depression and it wasn't really his recovery. But he did keep the country from total collapse and successfully got us into the war so that we could help destroy the world's economic engine leaving the rebuilding to the US.

President Karzai and what do we do

I posted way back in November that Karzai and all of his ministers should be arrested and hauled away in chains and the US should become the interim government. Think of where we would be today had we done this. We might have a new elected government, we might have roads, water systems, a police force, an army, and a school system. We might even have the people on our side. Instead we have a leader who is suggesting that if the US doesn't quit interfering he might join the Taliban. Gee, we put this guy in power, our army maintains his authority, and our solidiers are dying fighting the Taliban and Karzai has the audacity to suggest joining the Taliban. I say arrest him now for being corrupt and try him for crimes against his people.

Health care whiners

The talking point that the doctors and nurses are going to leave the medical field now that socialized medicine is here (its hardly socialized since the private companies are still allowed to make unregulated profits). I have one thing to say to these professionals, good luck in your new career. Come on you're really going to quit and then do what? How many other professions can you go into and make even close to the average doctor salary of $150,000? Not many. You could maybe find work in the sciences, average salary ~$50,000, but there aren't any positions. You could maybe become a construction laborer $10-20/hr., but again no jobs. You could maybe work in manufacturing $8-20/hr., again no jobs. You could leave the country and practice medicine in a country without a socialized medical system like Somalia.