July 30, 2004

Do you really want to run on the Third New Deal?
Posted by Jon Henke

Kevin Drum...

That was then, this is now:

Herbert Hoover, 1932: "Prosperity is just around the corner."

George W. Bush, 2004: "We've turned a corner, and we're not turning back."

I know that Democrats have been trying to pin the Hoover tag on Bush for a while now, but does he really think it's a good idea to help them along?
The Dems keep mentioning this, and I'm not sure why. After all, the Great Depression continued for about another decade after those jobs were lost under Hoover, due in large part to the generally poor government intervention.

Those economic policies led to a far longer depression than was otherwise ncessary. We didn't pull out until--at least--the beginning of WW2. There was protectionism, higher taxes, expansion of government programs to aid the poor and unemployed, and an expansion of all manner of new economic "rights" (read: privileges).

You might be forgiven for mistaking those ideas for this years Democratic Platform.

UPDATE: Yep. I guess they really do want a piece of that hot New[er] Deal action.

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