Why the Stimulus Won’t Work: The Raw Deal
Posted February 10th, 2009 at 10:48am in Ongoing Priorities 
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The Heritage Foundation and the Club for Growth are co-hosting a conference this morning titled “Economic Recovery: Free Markets vs. Big Government”. Kicking off is a panel on “Why the Stimulus Won’t Work” featuring Hillsdale history professor Burton Fulsom, Heritage Foundation senior fellow J.D. Foster, and CATO adjunct scholar Arnold Kling.
Fulsom speaks first recounting the thesis of his book New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR’s Economic Legacy Has Damaged America. According to Folsum, the history most Americans are taught in high school about the New Deal is a fairy tale. President Franklin Roosevelt’s programs, from the National Industrial Recovery Administration to increased strength of the Internal Revenue Service, completely failed to halt the depression, but that doesn’t mean they failed.
Like President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, Roosevelt’s New Deal was not about economic recovery, it was about using the power of the federal government to solidify a coalition. That is why friendly news paper editors got million dollar loans from the Feds while conservative opponents of the new deal faced IRS audits and fines.
Obama’s plan follows the same blue print, showering money on teachers, climate modelers, and other Democratic friendly federal workers.
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3 Responses to “Why the Stimulus Won’t Work: The Raw Deal”
Southern Conservative Alabama on February 10th, 2009 at 10:48am said:
The persuasion begins after last night.
The White House will send out the lackies
to sway as many as possible that this is
the “saving grace” of government.
Ross, Bradenton, Florida on February 10th, 2009 at 10:48am said:
We are now reaping the harvest of liberal education imposed upon the American people by the liberal Democrat(socialist) starting in the Roosevelt years. Then came the teacher’s union in the Johnson years. Nixon didn’t help and Carter, well… We now have two generations of ignorant citizens concerning history, civics, economics, and other elementary skills. For this we can thank government school and the teacher’s unions. We reap what we sow.
Ross, Bradenton, Florida on February 10th, 2009 at 10:48am said:
We reap what we sow. We can thank government schools and the teacher’s unions as to our citizen’s ignorant in history, civics, economic, and all the basic or elementary education. To many citizens have no concept of a representative republic government, the roles of the president, congress, or the supreme court, or the limitations of the Constitution of the United States of America, or even the Communist Manifesto(the basis for socialism) or even how capitalism works. WW2 was the only reason the USA came out of the “Great Depression” and gave Roosevelt the opportunity to became a great war leader. For all this we can thank our government schools and the teacher’s union.