When did "The New Deal" become a dirty word?

[Taverner]

I mean, Freepers rant up and down about "Not going back to new dealism" and that the enemy are "New Deal Democrats" (although I think the last one died in the 90's)

The new deal gave power, water and jobs to millions. It gave us the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge.

Why is this a bad thing?

[HEyHEY]

1. When it became a euphemism for anal sex.

[DJ13]

13. I thought the toe tappin freepers liked anal sex?!

[HEyHEY]

14. It's not that they like it, they just can't figure out which hole is the right one

[DJ13]

23. !

:rofl:

[Faygo Kid]

2. It's not a bad thing, of course. It's just Freeper historical revisionism.

The Freepers go insane at the thought of using our tax dollars to help others, unless they are wealthy plutocrats like their god, Rush Limbaugh. Even when we all ultimately benefit.

[Idealism]

3. Because it is Anti-Friedmanism

Social spending, safety nets, "for the good of civilization" all are things fiscal conservatives and free-market fundamentalists abhor.

There has been think-tanks putting out propaganda to try to discredit the New Deal since the 1950s. The most successful is the idea that most people believe that World War II ended the Great Depression, which is utterly false, but good luck getting most people to realize that.

[Taverner]

10. Yes I remember my freeper dad saying it was WWII that ended the depression

But we were already out of the woods by 41

Of course the spoils of war at the end of WWII did give the economy a huge jolt, and shot us into the prosperity decades...

But by then the economy was already full steam ahead

[RoyGBiv]

16. Huge jolt ...

And, a significant portion of that huge jolt was there precisely because of New Deal programs that were still in effect.

[Taverner]

19. Yes very true

And a big reason why we could take advantage of these new markets (UK, France, West Germany) was because of the new deal and the infrastructure it put into place.

[Idealism]

20. The huge jolt after the war

was because consumer spending during the war was so limited that companies were barely staying in business. There was rations on everything, from pillows to rice. The war, if anything, postponed recovery.

[Taverner]

24. Yes and also the huge European markets looking to rebuild

Most of the materials after the war came from the US - that was what put us on the map as a major manufacturing giant.

Of course, lately, all of that manufacturing is GONE

[Idealism]

26. Yes because immediately after ww2 there was an easing of tariffs

in foreign countries on our goods. All of Europe needed to be rebuilt and they allowed concessions for us to help them do it.

But now, our economy is based on underwritting contracts and shopping. Quite sad.

[Hippo_Tron]

36. It's not a question of what ended the depression

The New Deal wasn't designed to end the depression. It was designed to create a social safety net so that people could survive during hard economic times and to put in place sensible regulations to prevent it from happening again.

And keep in mind that we were mobilizing for World War II before 1941.

[madokie]

4. To the corporate masters its always been a dirty word

[marylanddem]

5. The New Deal saved this country - it's a beautiful phrase.

[Shakespeare]

6. The new deal gave us the middle class.

We'd better get back to some of those same programs if we want to save what's left of the middle class now.

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Don't forget Hoover Dam. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

11. As compared to damn Hoover?

[Taverner]

12. Well yeah - I could spend all day listing off New Deal projects

And you just ask anyone living on the Colo River should the Hoover Damn have been build...

[ColbertWatcher]

28. We could spend all day doing that, yes.

And, I think that's the point: that the New Deal transformed this nation, no matter what the GOPers say or want people to believe.

[Taverner]

30. Yes - exactly

If there weren't a new deal, we'd be like Bolivia

[ColbertWatcher]

31. That would be interesting to try to imagine what we'd be like ...

... if we hadn't had The New Deal!

[Taverner]

32. Oh this place would be hell

Say what you will about development, it has its advantages

Hoover Dam is a great example - imagine that area if it routinely flooded due to river swells...

Imagine the Bay Area without The Golden Gate, Bay, Benicia, and Antioch Bridges. And that's assuming they build the San Mateo Bridge later on.

Imagine having to wait for a ferry boat (with considerably more damage to the environment) to pick up your car, take it across, and then drive off.

[ColbertWatcher]

34. The west gets electricity from Hoover as well!

Speaking of electricity, the TVA is the envy of every private power company!

Despite the recent flood, they still are.

[tsuki]

18. My aunts still refer to it as Boulder Dam. They hate Hoover. nt

[ColbertWatcher]

29. LOL! Sorry Tsuki's Aunts! n/t

[JuniperLea]

8. They tie socialism with communism in their pea brains...

And they can't see how "trickle up" actually works and "trickle down" is a huge joke that never worked and only served to set us on this path of financial destruction.

The irony is they are upset with Bush for the bailouts, which are pure "trickle down" theory. Had BushCo started with the people, it would have lowered mortgage payments, lowered the credit crunch, put money in people's pockets so they could actually buy things like food, clothing... oh, yeah, and cars.

Bush sucks at Dominoes. One falls and knocks the next down... you can't suck them back up again.

[Captain Hilts]

9. It STILL isn't to me...

FDR: Not in our house!
ER: Indeed!

[liberal N proud]

Same time Liberal did

The conservatives have spent the last 60 years attacking the New Deal, Social Security and everything they consider liberal give aways.

[Warpy]

15. It always was to the wealthy and to morons and lackeys

My own grandmother, a daughter of wealth, was very much against everything FDR did and I have the scrapbooks full of anti New Deal propaganda to prove it.

Never mind that the New Deal benefited everybody. Never mind that the rich started to get richer again as it improved the economy.

The rich hate to see any dollars escaping their clutches, especially into the hands of the rabble. Some of the rabble are just ornery and ungrateful.

[Taverner]

17. Well yes, every dollar someone else has is one you don't

This was what one of my college professors, himself a benefit of great wealth, said when summing up the American Rich's attitude towards others

[TomClash]

21. Reagan

In a word.

[WI_DEM]

22. Around the time of Reagan for sure. It was thought of that the GOP had the new ideas

while the democrats just offered the same old "New Deal-Great Society" solutions, meaning more taxes and spend, spend, spend.

[Idealism]

27. Exactly right

Reagan famously said "Republicans think every day is the fourth of July, Democrats think its april 15th."

He was such a whore.

[Sebastian Doyle]

25. Well in terms of the "Democratic Party" it would be January 1995

When DLC founders Al From and Will PNAC Marshall joyously proclaimed (in the DLC's "Blueprint" magazine) that the Democratic party was "free at last" from the legacy of FDR and the New Deal after the embarrassing loss of congress.

[NaturalHigh]

33. My great-grandfather worked for the WPA.

When I was a teacher, I worked in a building that was built by the WPA. You can look all around and see the good that came from the New Deal. Frankly, I think we've gone backward since then.

This country needs a massive jobs program to rescue the economy. If there is a question of how to pay for it, it's really not difficult to figure out. Raise taxes by a few % on the wealthiest individuals and corporations, cut the massive waste in the DoD, get out of Iraq. How many billions could we save right there?

[LWolf]

35. When the working class,

and the Democratic Party, allowed it to be.