His warning is as relevant today as it was in 1936. Below is a speech by FDR during his reelection campaign in 1936. Think of this whenever you hear Republicans talking about “making health care more accessible and affordable for every American.” In FDR’s case, the Republicans were claiming they could create and manage the social programs FDR was creating (Social Security, unemployment insurance etc…) better than FDR himself. By now, everybody knows the Republicans can not be trusted with social programs like universal health care.
The problem today is that so many Democrats are on the payroll of the affluent that they want to destroy programs for the 99 percent and turn them into privatized cash cows for the rich. Think Medicare, a federal program that provides health insurance to people age 65 and over.
Wall Street Senator Ron Wyden wants to privatize Medicare. Wyden is supposed to be a Democrat. The senator knowingly lies to the citizens of Oregon, whom he is supposed to represent, but Wyden is really a well worn tool of Wall Street. Privatizing Medicare would only give senior citizens less medical care by transferring much of its cost to the affluent via higher corporate profits, rising dividends and soaring share prices. Wyden knows this, but he continues to lie. Wyden is a sleeze-bag that was corrupted by big money decades ago.
Democrats like Wyden, as well as the GOP (Greedy Old Perverts), cannot be trusted with any issue that benefits the poor and middle class. By the way, even though it’s not widely known, we are worse off today than we were in 1936 when FDR gave this speech.
re: we are worse off today than we were in 1936 – can you clarify why you made this statement?
Yes I can. In 1936, with a real unemployment rate of slightly less than 15 percent, the US was heading out of recession, although that was interrupted when FDR decided the economy was mended enough to continue growing without government assistance. After that short recession in 1937-38, the economy grew for the next thirty-five years. During this period, income growth was shared by the vast majority of people, more or less.
Nowadays, the US is stuck with a real unemployment rate of slightly higher than 15 percent, in an economy experiencing a slow motion collapse, with 93 percent of all US income growth accruing to the 1 percent. There’s more, but I don’t have time to go into it. Actually, I think I’ll write an article about this issue and post it by next weekend. Stay tuned.