You Republicans Brought Us The Great Depression, Too

Watching the second debate, again I thought Barack Obama had missed the opportunity to lay it all out in one neat package by not telling John McCain:

Hold on. Let's get a little historical perspective here.

It was you Republicans that brought us the Great Depression of the 1930's.

Don't forget, following the stock market crash of 1929, Republican President Herbert Hoover's pro business-at-all-costs agenda only beat us deeper and deeper into depression.

Remember, the last time the voter's demand for change had to wait three more years, until the election of 1932, when they swept in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And it was the Democrat's people-first programs that shepherd the American people through the hardships, pain and fear that burned lasting scars on a whole generation.

Then, straight at the camera:

Just as with the Great Depression, yet again, a reckless Republican Administration has coddled an unregulated financial system, throwing our economy into the worst crisis since their free market policies did it the last time.

But this time, we don't have to wait three years to vote for change.

Don't be fooled by campaign promises, squeezed out of John McCain by outraged voters. Until just a few weeks ago, he was the staunchest booster of Present Bush's financial policies that have brought us to the brink of the greatest economic catastrophe in American history.

And people should not forget this too. As bad as things are, they sure would be a whole lot worse if we Democrats had not beaten back John McCain and the Bush Administration's drive to privatize the best of FDR's programs. Imagine the panic sweeping the county now if your Social Security payments - the only retirement security for millions of Americans - were locked into today's stock market.

Far too much is at stake to trust another business friendly Republican Administration to enact, and enforce, the hard measures necessary to reign in our out of control economy.

America's recovery will take nothing less than a bold program of far reaching reforms - changes that will not be painless to Wall Street and its culture of greed and corruption.

So, make no mistake. It is my Democrat Administration that you can trust to deliver the sweeping change that America needs.

Comments

[AsAmericanasYou]

It amazes me that these people are not brought up on charges relating to Hate Crimes. The blood will be on McCain and Palin's hands if ANYTHING were to happen to Obama. Scary to think their vote counts just as much as mine.

[Heraclitis]

I think it's important to keep in mind that the sort of unfettered greed that brought about our current financial disaster is, in large part, a result of people in charge being silly enough to believe Milton Friedman's economic idieas.

I hope that Friedman is in a better place and all that but his economic theories have done an incredible amount of harm to this country. His ideas were adopted (after being swallowed whole) by many of those in power.

The unquestioning adherance to the idiocy Friedman foisted on us will hurt us for a long time to come. The reason it's important to keep this in mind is that there are many in power who still cling to the nonsense Friedman spewed.

[AmandaNYC]

I agree with your post. But I dont think enough Americans really understand what Is going on in American & around the Globe. How many Americans do you think KNOW that it was the republican Party that brought us into the Great Depression? Probably not as many as there should be. Alot of America doesnt know or care about American History, politics or the economy enough to make any Educated Decisions come election day. They're too busy downloading songs into their ipod's or watching things they've TiVo'd! I can Spew American History to uneducated people all day, it isnt going to change their vote - they are still voting for the 'white guy'.

I'm educated in American History, Polictics and Economics, and have soaked up enough information to come to the conclusion that I'm casting my Vote in November for Obama. The change we need & the Change we require in these Dangerous times in America. Not more of the same.
Obama/Biden '08

[MatoSka]

Our agenda for the future can't be to subordinate ourselves once again to the vagaries of Democrats and Republicans. It is long overdue for us to put our own needs and concerns on the table and not let others tell us what our needs are.

You Democrats led the charge on the bailout. You Democrats supported the NAFTA and GATT. You Democrats watched Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac with full knowledge of their problems. You Democrats were on the deck when the ship hit the iceberg.

You Republicans deregulated banking. You Republicans maintained low interest rates by the Fed. You Republicans allowed the credit markets to bloat. You Republicans put the captain of the ship at the wheel.

Singing "Nearer My God to Thee" might have been the only choice for those on he Titantic, but not for us. Nader, McKinney, Barr and Baldwin have established new bonafides for themselves in this context. We are where we are because no one showed real leadership to date.

"Al hands on deck!!!"