FDR, Reagan, and Obama by Paul Krugman

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Subject:	FWC: FDR, Reagan, and Obama by Paul Krugman
Date:	Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:13:02 -0800
From:	Jas Jain

The leftwing of the Democratic Party, progressives like Krooksman, yearn for FDR and rightwing Republicans like Limbaugh yearn for Reagan as to the kind of economic policies they would like to see. For the past 80 years, FDR and Reagan instituted economic polices that make these two the worst presidents. They enshrined policies—welfare socialism and crooked capitalism—that have proven to be very bad long-term. Both sets of economic policies are now firmly entrenched in American econo-political system and what Americans have gotten is the worst of both.

 

"More and more, it's becoming clear that progressives who had their hearts set on Obama were engaged in a huge act of self-delusion."

Krooksman, obviously, was one of those progressives who were dancing with delight when Obamacare was passed, but he admits to engaging in self-delusion in supporting Obama because self-delusion is one to the 5 top defining characteristics (there are about a thousand total, most of them minor) of born-and-bred American dopes. So, Herr Professor Krugman, don't feel so bad because you were doomed at birth in succumbing to self-delusion and other dopey behavior. Lifelong brainwashing takes it toll, Nobel Prize or no Nobel Prize. The secret of success for the two political parties in America, and their firm grip on power, is breeding dopes! Different strokes for different dopes!! Krooksman and Limbaugh dance to different drums.

Jas

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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/fdr-reagan-and-obama/

 

November 21, 2010, 2:07 am

FDR, Reagan, and Obama

Paul Krugman

Some readers may recall that back during the Democratic primary Barack Obama shocked many progressives by praising Ronald Reagan as someone who brought America a "sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing." I was among those who found this deeply troubling — because the idea that Reagan brought a transfomation in American dynamism is a right-wing myth, not borne out by the facts. (There was a surge in productivity and innovation — but it happened in the 90s, under Clinton, not under Reagan).

All the usual suspects pooh-poohed these concerns; it was ridiculous, they said, to think of Obama as a captive of right-wing mythology.

But are you so sure about that now?

And here's this, from Thomas Ferguson: Obama saying

We didn't actually, I think, do what Franklin Delano Roosevelt did, which was basically wait for six months until the thing had gotten so bad that it became an easier sell politically because we thought that was irresponsible. We had to act quickly.

As Ferguson explains, this is a right-wing smear. What actually happened was that during the interregnum between the 1932 election and the1933 inauguration — which was much longer then, because the inauguration didn't take place until March — Herbert Hoover tried to rope FDR into maintaining his policies, including rigid adherence to the gold standard and fiscal austerity. FDR declined to be part of this.

But Obama buys the right-wing smear.

More and more, it's becoming clear that progressives who had their hearts set on Obama were engaged in a huge act of self-delusion. Once you got past the soaring rhetoric you noticed, if you actually paid attention to what he said, that he largely accepted the conservative storyline, a view of the world, including a mythological history, that bears little resemblance to the facts.

And confronted with a situation utterly at odds with that storyline … he stayed with the myth.

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