Hoover and FDR

It seems as though history continues to repeat itself. During the first 'great depression,' Herbert Hoover was President at the outset. He instigated the things FDR would later enlarge upon, none of which worked. Now we are in the beginning of the second 'great depression,' and it's almost exactly the same scenario. George Bush started the plunge downhill with his $720 billion TARP nonsense, which most of the Republicans voted for, including John McCain, but not of course, Ron Paul. Now, with Obama as President, he is enlarging the things Bush started, just as FDR enlarged the things Hoover began, and history is repeating itself. Now, instead of $720 billion, it's said that it will be $10 trillion before it's over, and I hope being "over" doesn't mean the entire US economy, but it might well be. As in the days of Hoover and FDR, none of the 'stimulus' worked, as it still won't. Henry Morgenthau, FDR's Secretary of the Treasury, said that all the spending "hasn't worked," and he was correct. It took WW II to get us out of the first great depression, and we can pray that it won't take the same to get us out of the second great depression.

One big difference, as I have written before, is that during the Hoover-FDR first great depression, there was absolutely no inflation. None. Why? Because the dollar was backed by gold! It was illegal to print trillions of paper dollars during the first great depression. That's why FDR tried to get everyone to turn in their gold. He could then spend more gold-backed dollars. Also, there were no credit cards, no interstate roads, and virtually no air travel. Stocks were being sold with little or no down payment, just as homes were being sold for the same requirements during the second great depression. During the first great depression, there were no trillion-dollar credit card debts. During the first great depression, stocks plunged as they have done now, but perhaps a little bit further. Then, there was no PPT or plunge protection team to keep the stock market artificially high; and you can bet your bottom dollar that the PPT has been busy of late.

Speaking of stocks, can anyone give me a reason why they have gone up a thousand points, other than the PPT? 650,000 or more each week are getting laid off, businesses by the thousands go bankrupt or close each week, prompting even more layoffs, and the chain reaction continues. One of my clients says that stocks are going up because during a hyperinflation, everything goes up, and that is a good point, but there are no profits anywhere, so I think that argument my not be totally true. I honestly do believe that gold and the Dow will cross eventually, with the Dow on its way down and gold on its way up. Gold and silver will NEVER go to zero like paper assets (sic) can and have done and will continue to do. With hyper inflation, gold and silver will be made to go up even further than other prices, I believe, because more and more people are seeing the beauty of tangible beautiful, historic money, in the form of gold and silver, and there is only so much of it out there. As it becomes more and more difficult to get, due to increased demand, prices of metals will have to go sky high in dollars.

We drove over 3200 miles the week before last, mostly in Texas, and going to and from there. The Blue Bonnets are out and beautiful, but even in Texas, the economy isn't good at all. While Texas houses haven't plunged like Las Vegas, California, and Florida, it's because they never got that high in the first place. Still, layoffs are plentiful, and tourism, motels, and other non-essentials are hurting...even in Texas. Closed auto dealerships are plentiful, and in one wonderful German restaurant, which used to have people waiting around the block on a Friday evening, we were seated instantly. The second great depression is going to leave an unemployment rate of close to 20% before it's over and all the spending and bailouts are merely postponing the inevitable, and making it worse with hyperinflation. The term "trillion" was unheard of a couple of years ago, as far as deficits are concerned, and now that term is thrown around like penny candy at a fair 50 years ago.

I don't believe in fixes and I've said so repeatedly. Sometimes the piper has to be paid. Whiskey credo number three: Sometimes there is no forgiveness, only punishment.

The megalopolis and its populations are going to melt back into town and country. The ravages of private and public debt won't be avoided...especially not by more private and public debt.
I wouldn't do a damned thing to "fix" this. I'd let it play out because tampering would only make the outcome worse in the end. Alas, most of the world and all those in power believe that there is a way to wiggle out of this mess...so tamper they will.

Prepare yourselves as best you can It's going to get more and more interesting...

Regards,
Gary Gibson
Managing Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder

And BTW… It really is time to stop blaming Bush…  The difference between $720 Billion and almost $11 Trillion is staggering, and when Obama came to office only half the TARP money was spent.  Obama and the present Democratic Congress own this present problem!!

The U.S. Government needs to stop this crazy spending…  And remember, those that do not know and understand history are destined to repeat it… and repeat it… and repeat it!!

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Source:  KnowledgeCreatesPower

Changes In Politics

Although the Great Depression of the 1930s began under Herbert Hoover, unemployment during Hoover's last year in office was not as high as it became during each of the first five years under FDR.

During the eight years of FDR's first two terms as president, there were only two years in which unemployment was lower than it had been under Herbert Hoover-- and not by much.

World War II has been credited by some with getting the United States out of the Great Depression. What the war did was put an end to the New Deal, as national survival became the top priority and replaced FDR's anti-business and class warfare rhetoric.

Senator Obama's rhetoric today is the anti-business and class warfare rhetoric that worked so brilliantly in a political sense for FDR in the 1930s. But Obama is following an opposite course from FDR when it comes to recognizing threats to American national security.

Senator Obama has repeatedly tried to deal with national security threats with rhetoric. He tried to dismiss the threat of a nuclear Iran with because Iran is "a small nation"-- even though it is larger than Japan, which launched a devastating attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor.

FDR had the good sense to begin urging greater military preparedness in 1940, more than a year before the United States was attacked. He said, "If you wait until you see the whites of their eyes, you will never know what hit you."

Cutting the military budget and taking foreign policy problems to the United Nations are Obama's version of "change."

That is change that we dare not believe in. It is the audacity of hype.

One of the few political cliches that makes sense is that "In politics, overnight is a lifetime."

Less than a year ago, the big question was whether Rudolph Giuliani could beat Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential election. Less than two months ago, Barack Obama had a huge lead over John McCain in the polls. Less than a week ago, the smart money was saying that Mitt Romney would be McCain's choice for vice president.

We don't need Barack Obama to create "change." Things change in politics, in the economy, and elsewhere in American society, without waiting for a political messiah to lead us into the promised land.

Who would have thought that Obama's big speech at the Democratic convention would disappoint expectations, while McCain's speech electrified his audience when he announced his choice of Governor Sarah Palin for his running mate?

Some people were surprised that his choice was a woman. What is more surprising is that she is an articulate Republican. How many of those have you seen?

Despite the incessantly repeated mantra of "change," Barack Obama's politics is as old as the New Deal and he is behind the curve when it comes to today's economy.

Senator Obama's statement that "our economy is in turmoil" is standard stuff on the left and in the mainstream media, which has been dying to use the word "recession."

Not only has the economic slowdown failed to reach the definition of a recession, the most recent data show the U.S. economy growing at a rate exceeding 3 percent-- a rate that many European economies would die for, despite our being constantly urged to imitate those countries whose end results are not as good as ours.

Barack Obama's "change" is a recycling of the kinds of policies and rhetoric of the New Deal that prolonged the Great Depression of the 1930s far beyond the duration of any depression before or since.

These are the same kinds of liberal policies that led to double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates and rising unemployment during the Carter administration. These are "back to the future" changes to economic disasters that need repeating.

Make no mistake, the political rhetoric of FDR was great. For those who admire political rhetoric, as so many of Barack Obama's supporters seem to, FDR was tops. For those who go by actual results, FDR's track record was abysmal.

by Thomas Sowell

Posted by TownHall.com