“New Deal or Raw Deal” by Burton Folsom

Think back to your days as an American History student.  There was one thing that has always stood out in the majority of classes in high school and college; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an important presidential figure, if not the best President this country has ever elected.  Name your top five favorite Presidents.   FDR will probably fall somewhere in your list, unless you have taken the time to analyze his policies and how they have affected the United States.

Three events that many associate with FDR's presidency are the Great Depression, The New Deal and World War II.  FDR is often credited with pulling the United States out of the Great Depression but this is a fallacy perpetuated by progressives and liberals alike.  The New Deal actually exasperated the Great Depression.  Many of the New Deal's programs adversely affected the lower- and middle-classes; the people whom FDR publicly intended to help.

Read about the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in New Deal or Raw Deal, where farmers were actually paid NOT to farm.  Programs like this were eventually deemed unconstitutional after implementation.  Nevertheless, Roosevelt’s policies have arguably damaged the country and that damage persists today.  Remember, Roosevelt pushed for a second bill of rights.

During one of Roosevelt's presidential campaigns, utilizing his public works program (NRA), he had 300,000 workers hired just before the election.  Once he was voted into office, those 300,000 public workers were let go.  Roosevelt used government funds, not to help citizens in the long run, but to stay in power as long as possible.  By targeting key swing states, Roosevelt was able to direct federal dollars to those states.  Even in traditionally Republican states, Roosevelt won re-election.  However, after Roosevelt's death, the US Congress put term limits on the president... Roosevelt wasn't really as popular as the textbooks make him out to be, was he?

Now assimilate this trend from the late thirties and forties to the present day...The American people are tired of excessive spending by Washington bureaucrats… Democrats AND Republicans.  This fall, party contributions by big business and big labor will not determine election winners – the people will.  The people are angry and tired of Washington games and consistently being lied to by politicians.

You MUST read New Deal or Raw Deal.  This book is a careful analysis of the Keynesian policies of the New Deal and the reason those policies have always failed.