2008-11-03
Tomorrow the only poll that counts will be taken. Millions of Americans will choose their leader for the next chapter of the greatest experiment in world history. The next four years will determine whether America paid attention, or bought a $700 million package only Madison Avenue and an in-the-tank media could sell.
If Obama wins, it will not be the first time in our history America trusted a Democrat to deliver the nation from the depths of economic despair. In 1933 FDR was elected to lead us through a very trying time in America, and lead he did – right down the path of the New Deal with massive government programs, increases in the monetary base and welfare for all who were in need.
And while many in the Democratic Party lionize Roosevelt for his efforts, he forever changed the future of America. The concept of big government and the "chicken in every pot" mentality replaced a sense of personal responsibility.
While FDR was governor of New York, he prided himself on being a progressive who brought tax relief to farmers and promoted inexpensive electric power. Less government and less intrusion seemed best for his state.
However, in 1929, the Great Depression stunned America. Gov. Roosevelt changed his tune quite radically as dealing with the consequences of the Depression moved him toward advocating government intervention. He enacted state programs that put 10,000 men to work building roads, planting trees and constructing buildings. Much of his programs were models for what would become the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, heralded as one of the most successful programs of the New Deal.
In 1932 the American people were ripe with anger toward President Herbert Hoover. Some argued Hoover would have had the worst approval rates of any president if there had been approval ratings back then. The country was resolute in its desire for change.
Sound familiar?
The governor from New York won the election by a wide margin. With a strong mandate, FDR moved quickly in his first 100 days to pass landmark legislation giving the federal government an active role in addressing the issues the nation faced. He passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act. He created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the National Recovery Administration, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Later he established the CCC, Works Progress Administration and ultimately, by 1935, the Social Security Act – which by far was the most enduring piece of the New Deal.
FDR closed the banks, recalled gold and prohibited the private ownership of gold or the sales thereof. He revalued gold from $20.67 per ounce to $35 per ounce, allowing the Treasury to create 75 percent more money to inject into the system and stimulate the economy. The Federal Reserve stood ready with the magic of fractional banking to create billions of dollars, and we were off to the races.
Bigger government equipped with unlimited money, and yet it wasn't until the nation entered a war that the economy took off. But by the '50s and '60s, we saw rates of inflations that prompted Nixon to close the gold window in 1971. There was not enough gold to cover the dollars created during the leadership of FDR.
And while many believe FDR was a great president, few point out the welfare state created at all levels during his tenure. The belief the government was responsible for every person's food, clothing, shelter and wellbeing was clearly a byproduct of the FDR philosophy.
Alan Greenspan in his white paper, "Gold and economic freedom," pointed out the welfare statists' tirade against the gold standard. The gold standard stood in the way of growing the welfare state because honest money could not be created out of thin air to fulfill the Democrats' grand vision.
Obama will no doubt return to the same Democratic playbook to achieve his goals: bigger government, higher taxes, more spending and promising every citizen everything from health care to college education – welfare for everybody, including Wall Street.
But where will he get the money?
The printing press, of course. Unlike FDR, Obama will not be required to keep gold on deposit to create the money, but create he will. And the consequence will be the same: inflation. America saw in the years following what appeared to be a great economic recovery. Democrats always have and always will believe that bigger government is better government. Throwing money at every problem is always the Democratic prescription.
But before you think it will be any different with McCain, just take a look at the last two decades of wasteful spending and larger government. We have now grown the national debt to $11 trillion, and there is no end in sight as we continue to throw more and more dollars at the problem. McCain has been opposed to wasteful government spending, but he is a lone voice among a pack of pork-loving wolves, and it will take more than one man to stop the feeding.
Yet many people believe a single man in the Oval Office can solve problems we face without the law of unintended consequence kicking in over time. We as a people must deal with the reality that serious fundamental change must occur if we truly want to get the country back on the sound fiscal path to prosperity. To continue down the path of failed policies from both sides of the aisle will only get us more of the same.
The people must demand a reduction in the size of government and its spending habits. We must reduce business taxes, which are the second highest in the world. It is time to tell Washington it gets enough of our money at the current tax rate and to freeze or reduce personal taxes for everyone who pays.
The more the people look to government for the solution, the more the government will grow. Until Americans realize government is not the solution but the problem, we will go through these horrific election cycles – elections in which hundreds of millions are spent trying to convince us that one person and his or her government system can create a utopia.
Early on in this election, comparisons were drawn between JFK and Barack Obama. Just as Kennedy was America's savior and sweetheart back then, so would Barack be today. What a foolish notion! Kennedy's famous conviction, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can do for your country," is something Obama would never get behind. Obama wants Americans to ask, "What has my country done for me lately?" and to demand more if the answer seems lacking.
This festering sense of entitlement is crippling us as a nation. Since when is everything from food to education a birthright if you are born in America? It has been ever since the great FDR started the New Deal. And, tomorrow, a new New Deal may be on the table – all courtesy of the Democratic Party that may now control the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Oval Office. It is a rubber stamp of epic proportions ready to pass a liberal's dream come true.
FDR must be green with envy.
To quote Nancy Reagan, it is time to "Just say no." I only hope that when I get up on Wednesday morning that America has collectively said, "Get out of my wallet, off my back and away from my children – and let me live as a free individual."
Hopefully I am not alone in my belief that the best deal is no deal at all.
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