Of course the comparison is always made with FDR. In Wonderboy's case, he actually thinks he is another FDR. Or JFK. Or maybe Lincoln. We never know which he'll choose to embody on any given day, so stricken with his own rock-star persona.
FDR, however, had actual government experience of some substantial nature prior to running for president. He served as Secretary of the Navy and governor of New York.
That experience notwithstanding, Roosevelt essentially failed in his management of the Depression. Sure, now he is remembered for all the socialist programs and changes to society and government which remain: Social Security, insured bank deposits, and the SEC, to name a few.
What are now largely forgotten, but was still taught in my youth, were: court packing, the unconstitutional National Recovery Administration, the joke WPA and PWA. Yes, even in his own time, FDR was seen as a socialist of the first rank. The truth is that federal spending on armaments for WWII gradually pulled the US economy out of the Depression, not Roosevelt's programs. In fact, consumer spending didn't really affect the economy again until ten years later, after WWII's end, when pent-up demand and a returning workforce of ex-GI's caused economic dislocations.
Much of FDR's program was, as the Supreme Court ruled, unconstitutional. That's why he tried to pack the court, but failed, even with his own party in the majority. Even now, less actually remains of FDR's legacy than we imagine, for all the chaos it caused at the time. But the lasting impression of heavy federal government intervention is still with us.
That's what fueled LBJ's largely-failed Great Society. What hasn't been scuttled or modified has been generally seen to have either become bankrupt (social security, medicaid, medicare) or disastrously eroded key societal values (welfare programs and ADC).
To me, though, Wonderboy's 100 days is different. A colleague put his finger on it when he noted the accelerated pace of single-party-backed changes. The many executive orders overturning standing policies. The unread, but passed stimulus bill- the largest spending bill in our nation's history. A bill that is less about economic stimulus, and much, much more about radical social policy change cloaked in an anti-recession spending sheath. The recent budget bill.
Because of such obvious stiff-arming of Republican opposition, and conscious ignorance of that party's alternative proposals, we have essentially draconian social policy change at the whim of only one party in less than six months.
Our current First Rookie is just an empty suit with a racial ancestry that attracted the guilt vote of many non-blacks who should have known better. He has absolutely no experiential qualifications for the office he now holds, and it is showing. Thus, when I use the term 'whim,' I mean it in the worst way. None of what Wonderboy has proposed has any evidence of being appropriate or effective, from his Treasury Secretary's manipulation and intimidation of our banks to his administrations plans to undertake government-designed, wholesale change in our insurance, medical, automotive, financial and energy sectors.
Change of this nature is probably not lasting. It's too fast and autocratic to fit with our nation's representative and collaborative form of societal change through government. Perhaps even change that will bring about improper reaction.
The real danger, though, is what every Republic dreads. Change that comes faster than the election cycle.
One cannot help but think, with all the despotic plans our president has in mind, someone, somewhere, may react by attempting to assassinate him.
That could well be the price of tampering with the US economy and society too quickly, without allowing for meaningful Congressional debate and compromise.
Of course, such an event is wrong and not to be desired. No matter how much you despise and disrespect a president, settling scores from a gun barrel, as opposed to the ballot box, is bad for everyone in the long run.
But you can just feel the pressure building among disenfranchised, disenchanted voters whose elected representatives in Congress have effectively been ignored.
Wonderboy was elected by far less than a Reaganesque landslide. His margin of victory was only 6 percentage points. At least forty percent of the Senate and forty-one percent of the House are Republican, so to totally ignore those Congresspersons is to effectively ignore a significant percentage of Americans whom they represent. It's not like the GOP in Congress has only 15 or 25% of the seats.
As such, the Democratic party's decision to freeze out any ideas but their own, sanctioned and directed by Wonderboy, could have real, deadly consequences within the next four years. And that would be a tragedy for the overall, long term health of the American Republic.
No comments:
Post a Comment