--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bettyblue109 <no_re...@...> wrote: > > "Stimulus Package" what a bill of goods the American people have been > sold.....it is not a "stimulus", it is plain old government spending, > they call it a stimulus though....excuse me, I have a degreee in > economics and have studied it for 30 years....what are they > "stimulating"?.......they missed the target by miles....but its > politicians "hard at work".......telling us what they want us to hear!
That's a similar attitude to those whose 'expert' economic back ground got us into this mess in the first place. The same kind of in-it-for-the-wealthy 'experts' who fought tooth and nail against FDR's New Deal spending. The same kind of thinking found with the obstructionist right wingers who ran the GOP economic titanic we face today. [NOTE: Stock market crash was in 1929 under Republican President Herbert Hoover. FDR was inaugurated in 1933.] Here are some hard facts: The New Deal worked, worked well, and worked quickly. The economy had hit rock bottom in March 1933 and then started to expand. As historian Broadus Mitchell notes, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically."[18] Economic indicators show the economy reached nadir in the first days of March, then began a steady, sharp upward recovery. Thus the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production hit its lowest point of 52.8 in July 1930 (with 1935-39 = 100) and was practically unchanged at 54.3 in March 1933; however by July 1933, it reached 85.5, a dramatic rebound of 57% in four months. Recovery was steady and strong until 1937. Except for unemployment, the economy by 1937 surpassed the levels of the late 1920s. The Recession of 1937 was a temporary downturn. Private sector employment, especially in manufacturing, recovered to the level of the 1920s but failed to advance further until the war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal - U.S. Gross Domestic Product 1929-1941 - See chart: http://images2.dailykos.com/images/user/363/Depression_GDP_output_1.gif http://snipurl.com/cxnm2 Total employment in the United States from 1920 to 1940, excluding farms and WPA. Data was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstracts and converted into SVG format GRAPH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Employment_Graph_-_1920_to_1940.svg http://snipurl.com/cxnsn > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> wrote: > > > > > > "The banking system often has been characterized as parasitic. The > > > metaphor is appropriate on more than one plane. Most people think of > > > parasites simply as leeches, draining nourishment from the host. But > > > biological nature is more complex. In order for parasites to succeed > > > they must first numb the host's pain-warning system so that they can > > > get a foothold. They then take control of the host's brain. The trick > > > the host into believing that the parasite is part of its own body, and > > > indeed even its child, to be nurtured, protected and given preference. > > > They turn the host into a zombie. So the problem we are facing is not > > > "zombie banks," but the ability of Wall Street to create a zombie > > > economy." -- Michael Hudson. Read More: http://tinyurl.com/dync4n > > > > > > The stimulus package arrived with the price tag and on roughly the > > schedule Obama had set for it. > > > > "The president's job approval percentage now ranges from the mid 60s > > (Gallup, Pew) to mid 70s (CNN) not bad for a guy who won the > > presidency with 52.9 percent of the vote. > > > > While 48 percent of Americans told CBS, Gallup and Pew that they > > approve of Congressional Democrats, only 31 (Gallup), 32 (CBS) and 34 > > (Pew) percent could say the same of their G.O.P. counterparts." > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15rich.html?_r=1 > > > > > > Gallup - February 27, 2009 - Obama Approval Rating *Increases* to 67% > > > > http://www.gallup.com/poll/116224/Obama-Approval-Rating-Increases.aspx > > >
