this is the BEST written slam of GOP revisionism on New Deal and Great Depression

[PretzelWarrior]

I just love how matter of factly it is laid out and the facts of history are once again on our side. It is horrible when you look at the greatness of FDR that the stupid conservatives EVER think Reagan can remotely be near him in our esteem.

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2009/02/02/the_new_deal_worked/

[20score]

1. Very good! K & R.

[Hekate]

2. KnR, & saving to file. Had some trouble with Salon putting an ad in my face. Here's a link...

... in case others get that too.

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2009/02/02/the_new_deal_worked/print.html

Hekate

[riverdeep]

3. Nice piece.

I had no idea just how hard the revisionists are hitting back. The WSJ is certainly in on the revisionism. But I hear this everywhere now, so they've certainly accomplished the goal of at least muddying the waters.

As Amity Shlaes, currently the premier anti-New Deal historical revisionist writing for a popular audience, explained proudly in her own Wall Street Journal opinion piece in November, "The Krugman Recipe for Depression," a necessary step is to not count as employed those people in "temporary jobs in emergency programs."

This is basically the argument that Steele made a few days ago, that these aren't real jobs being created because they can end at any time. Well, considering that there is no such thing as job security, any job can end at any time. And if the choice is to live in your car or work for six months, most people will take the latter.

[PretzelWarrior]

4. yes. they are running on this fulltime

because to NOT deny it would be to unleash the full effect of the American people's desire for change and government help. They hop to blunt some of it. Hopefully doesn't work very well.

[RJ Connors]

5. Thanks for posting! I am making this part of my reference set

on this BS that the Pubs are putting out about how the new deal didn't work.

Rachael Maddow had a great chart on it awhile back but she didn't have any of the underlying causes like this article did. I particularly liked this statement.

"Shlaes dismisses Darby's reappraisal of Great Depression unemployment statistics by arguing that "to count a short-term, make-work project as a real job was to mask the anxiety of one who really didn't have regular work with long-term prospects."

Considering that most states are employment-at-will states, it could be said that pretty much everyone that has a regular job doesn't have any long term prospects. Therefore, most of the country is always unemployed.

[Canuckistanian]

6. And he only talks about one aspect - employment

I'd like to see more articles from Leonard about economics. He seems to know his history very well.

[Triana]

7. New Deal Deniers. Wonder if they're related to Holocaust Deniers?

I know they're two different things in history and human rights perspective but the deniers of either flavor seem to be extremely confused / ignorant people (willfully so).

[malaise]

8. Nice read

K & R

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

9. Wonderful article.

Of course the right-wingers and their ilk will say anything against FDR and the New Deal. Most of them are probably descendants of the people who referred to FDR as "that man in the White House" during the Depression...

Maybe someone should inform these arseholes that Reagan changed the way the unemployment figures were calculated in the 1980's during his recession of 1981-1989.

[PretzelWarrior]

10. funny thing is....my grandfather earned money for CCC

but couldn't stand FDR. Very weird dynamic. He lived in Kansas and I guess a book called "What's the matter with Kansas" could have been written way back then too.

I mean, he was my grandfather and all....but accepting the work created by FDR's New Deal and then bag on him after the fact as a socialist? wow.

[Liberal Gramma]

11. My dad was in CCC too

One dollar a month and his keep. His unit worked on trails in national parks in Washington state, and he was glad to have the certainty of regular meals and a place to sleep when the workday was done. He thought FDR was one of the great presidents. I think Obama might be too.

[PretzelWarrior]

12. I believe he has a distinct chance to be.

We have to be the ground troops continually pounding the message home of what he is doing so it gets to our neighbors via us instead of warped talk TV and talk radio.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. I've probably hiked a number of those trails.

:hi:

[Johnyawl]

19. Our fathers might have known each other

My dad was in the CCC, and worked in the national parks here in Washington also. He built roads in the Olympic National forest, including the original road up to Hurricane ridge. He also helped built Cakeek Park in north Seattle.

Unfortunately he despised FDR, which has was incomphrensible to me for a long time. He readily admitted that he would have starved during the depression without the CCC. He also hated Truman, although he credited HST with saving his life.(his unit was staged for the invasion on Japan). It took me a long time to figure out that it was pure and simple racism. He hated FDR and HST for the role they played in ending segregation.

[mzmolly]

13. They are members of a

cult.

Thanks, off to read the article now. ;)

[PretzelWarrior]

14. it's a keeper. Salon is AWESOME. just hit after hit, in my estimation.

[eppur_se_muova]

15. Black text on dark gray background?

Do these guys work for Microsoft?

[PretzelWarrior]

16. yeah. go ahead and focus on that

[KakistocracyHater]

20. customize how your browser

displays pages

[donheld]

18. K & R

[BirminghamExaminer]

21. K&R

[deacon]

22. k + r n/t