BigD sent me a link that was just genius. It was exactly what I was looking for when I wrote about the New Deal.
Now before we get into the specifics of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, which was the name of his government program, I wanted to begin by announcing some of the results from a Fox News poll that was done over a year ago. The poll asked, "When the government spends money for programs, does it get the money from taxpayers, or does the government have an independent source of revenue?"
Let me start with the answer this way. Eleven percent weren't sure. They were undecided. Forty percent said government gets its money from taxpayers. Forty-nine percent said they have an independent source of revenue. So the answer to the poll was 49 percent said government has an independent source of revenue that it uses to spend money for programs; 40 percent said no, every time it spends a dollar on programs it has to get the dollar from taxpayers; and 11 percent were undecided.
Can you see why after this poll, when we have government programs that fail, it does not result in throwing those who perpetrated the program out of office? You have one group that gets a sizable vote-forty percent-that is mad about it. But there are others who say: "Hey, it's not my money. It's the government's money. At least they tried."
And it gets better from there...
Posted by Sarah at January 28, 2009 02:48 PM | TrackBackGrrr.... So what is this magically independent source of revenue that 49% of the country (at least) seems to think that the government has control of? For goodness sakes, people, come on!
Posted by: Leofwende at January 28, 2009 03:27 PMOy. Someone bring the smelling salts... *clunk*
Posted by: kannie at January 28, 2009 03:39 PM"Better" was an understatement!
Whoever hasn't read the article yet should try to fill in the blanks:
"Roosevelt instituted an executive order on April 27, 1942 for a ___ percent income tax on all income over _____."
I had no idea how nauseating the New Deal was. This should be required reading in high schools, but it never will be. (It doesn't help that some high schoolers can't even read, but that's another issue.)
It's not even Saturday night yet, but I'm going to declare this to be the article of the week for me.
Thanks, BigD!
Posted by: Amritas at January 28, 2009 03:46 PMOMG - I got a shoutout on the blog! Hollah!!!!
I know, I found that article after hearing all year long about how AWESOME the New Deal was (cue rolling eyes). I knew for years that really it was WWII's need for the creation of military defenses that really got us out of the depression.
People act like the FDR and The New Deal were the pinnacles of the American economy. Instead its programs like this that cause dependency on govt. spending to live life. I've always been a proponent that you reap what you sew. My family was lower middle class all my life. At one point when I was younger I know we were on welfare when my dad was laid off. But mostly we were a $50k, single-family income household w/ 2 kids. Yet, good parenting and education helped me be the success I am today. It's not to say I never veered off the path and made mistakes. But I've kept my eye on the ball to have a better life then the previous generation, to make my parents proud.
Too bad we can't have more people with that mindset that it's themselves who can create the success, turnaround their lives - not the govt. We don’t need more govt. spending to get our economy back on track. All it does is create debt and makes it look like the govt. is doing something when all they are doing are taking credit for job creation that would be their regardless of their involvement.