During his May 1932 commencement address to Oglethorpe University, then-New York Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered up a phrase which has gained notoriety of late given its use by Barack Obama.
“The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation,” Roosevelt said.
Of course Roosevelt’s “bold persistent experimentation” only worsened and prolonged the economic downturn he inherited from his tax-and-spend predecessor, “Republican” Herbert Hoover. Nonetheless, in accepting his renomination for the presidency last year Obama offered up the same phrase, saying America’s recovery will “require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one.”
Yeah … brace for that double-dip recession, people.
Anyway, what Roosevelt and Obama both failed to heed was what immediately followed this now-infamous line – a.k.a. the “FDR Corollary” (which is not to be confused with the “Roosevelt Corollary,” a foreign policy directive of Theodore Roosevelt).
Here it is …
“It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another,” Roosevelt said.
Yeah …
As has often been said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Meanwhile addiction is marked by a steadfast refusal to admit you have a problem.
Fitting, huh? And yet Obama presses forward.
Anyway, our takeaway from all this? It’s time to try something else, America …
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12 comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3RHnKYNvx8
Another quote from FDR, one that is quite striking given that Republicans want to dismantle health care reform with no adequate replacement, turn Medicare into a voucher system with no guarantee that it will provide the same level of care over time, make sweeping changes to Social Security to put it further out of reach for many Americans, gut education, strip away the EPA, cut regulations, etc.
Republicans don’t have to do any of what you listed. All they have to do is stand by and watch gov’t(on all levels, across all parties) do it for them. If printing money was the way to prosperity the whole world would be much richer.
This little FDR tidbit is nothing more than platitudes and exhortations to a Progressive electorate…filled with as much substance as a square mile of interstellar space.
It’s all great drama though.
Hey I have a replacement for it. It is call free market. You should give it a try sometime.
Yea, free market healthcare has been doing a great job. Explains why we spend more per person for worse coverage then other 1st world countries.
We have(had) free market health care?
The closest thing we have had (in a long time) to free market would be health care savings accounts. I used FSA at my job because we dont offer HSA. For last several years I contributed the max allowed by my company 5200 which covered my max out of pocket expenses for the year. Now my FSA is caped at 2500 which is half my max out of pocket for a year. Seems to me this is a plan to make everyone suffer equally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3RHnKYNvx8
Another quote from FDR, one that is quite striking given that Republicans want to dismantle health care reform with no adequate replacement, turn Medicare into a voucher system with no guarantee that it will provide the same level of care over time, make sweeping changes to Social Security to put it further out of reach for many Americans, gut education, strip away the EPA, cut regulations, etc.
Republicans don’t have to do any of what you listed. All they have to do is stand by and watch gov’t(on all levels, across all parties) do it for them. If printing money was the way to prosperity the whole world would be much richer.
This little FDR tidbit is nothing more than platitudes and exhortations to a Progressive electorate…filled with as much substance as a square mile of interstellar space.
It’s all great drama though.
Hey I have a replacement for it. It is call free market. You should give it a try sometime.
Yea, free market healthcare has been doing a great job. Explains why we spend more per person for worse coverage then other 1st world countries.
We have(had) free market health care?
The closest thing we have had (in a long time) to free market would be health care savings accounts. I used FSA at my job because we dont offer HSA. For last several years I contributed the max allowed by my company 5200 which covered my max out of pocket expenses for the year. Now my FSA is caped at 2500 which is half my max out of pocket for a year. Seems to me this is a plan to make everyone suffer equally.