ShackledNation
Libertarian
It has become a common misunderstanding that Herbert Hoover was a laissez-faire man and epitomized the failure of free market capitalism. Far from it, Hoover was the most interventionist president the US had ever known. FDR based much of his New Deal on Hoover's own New Deal.
Whenever anyone demands government be scaled back, taxes lowered, and spending decreased, people point to Hoover as evidence that these policies are utter failures. Unfortunately, Hoover's policies were so interventionist that FDR called him a socialist on the campaign trail. You heard me, FDR, the epitome of "big government", criticized Hoover for intervening too much.
Dispelling The Herbert Hoover Myth - CBS News
Wait, Herbert Hoover Wasn't a Libertarian? - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Herbert Hoover's New Deal - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
I hope you all get the point. Hoover was by no means a free market man. He is in the same camp as all the other big government spenders today. Defenders of the stimulus point to Hoover as an example of failure and then pursue the exact same policies. Again, the famous mantra manifests itself: "Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it."
We Americans have been quite forgetful indeed. And the consequences will be disastrous.
Whenever anyone demands government be scaled back, taxes lowered, and spending decreased, people point to Hoover as evidence that these policies are utter failures. Unfortunately, Hoover's policies were so interventionist that FDR called him a socialist on the campaign trail. You heard me, FDR, the epitome of "big government", criticized Hoover for intervening too much.
Dispelling The Herbert Hoover Myth - CBS News
After the stock market crash of 1929, Hoover browbeat business leaders to keep wages and prices high. He invested heavily in public works projects. He pushed for an international moratorium on debts. He created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which later became a home for many of FDR's Brain Trusters. Hoover increased farm subsidies enormously.
In 1932, Hoover in effect repealed Calvin Coolidge's tax cuts, increasing the rates for the poorest taxpayers by more than 100 percent and hiking the top rate from 25 percent to 63 percent.
Also, who are the real Hoovers here? Obama is sympathetic to protectionism, as is his party. He says he will raise taxes on the top income earners, and if he's remotely honest about his spending ambitions, he will have to raise taxes on everybody else as well.
Wait, Herbert Hoover Wasn't a Libertarian? - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Hoover didnt cut federal spending, he doubled it. He established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. He propped up wages and prices. Indeed, he launched the New Deal.
Herbert Hoover's New Deal - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
What does "Emergency Relief and Construction Act" sound like to you? Not the Obama Stimulus, perhaps?Far from being "unwilling to challenge the pillars of free-market capitalism," Hoover reacted to the Depression by promoting extensive government intervention. For example, he established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a new federal agency that gave massive loans and grants to banks, failing businesses and state and local governmentsa policy similar to today's bailouts. He also supported (albeit reluctantly) the enactment of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, a protectionist measure intended to strengthen American businesses by shielding them from foreign competition. Furthermore, he sponsored a massive increase in federal spending on a variety of relief programs. Similar to today's Democratic Congress, Hoover sought to stimulate the economy by increasing federal funding for public works through the Emergency Relief and Construction Act.
FDR calling for a balanced budget seems ironic in retrospect.Speaking before the 1932 Republican Convention, Hoover boasted that he had rejected the "disastrous" option of doing "nothing" and instead had "met the situation with proposals to private business and to Congress of the most gigantic program of economic defense and counterattack ever evolved in the history of the Republic." In that same 1932 campaign, FDR even denounced Hoover for overspending and promised to enact a balanced budget.
I hope you all get the point. Hoover was by no means a free market man. He is in the same camp as all the other big government spenders today. Defenders of the stimulus point to Hoover as an example of failure and then pursue the exact same policies. Again, the famous mantra manifests itself: "Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it."
We Americans have been quite forgetful indeed. And the consequences will be disastrous.