A Lesson in Conservative Economics

Few in America would have imagined a time when Democrats and other Liberals would teach Republicans and other Conservatives the economic realities of capitalism. But on this topic, something said by MSNBC’s Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough, today caught our ear once again.

Said Mr. Scarborough, “If we're going to invest in new technology, that's one thing. But roads and bridges: that's last century.”

The Allusion Here Apparently referred to various economic-stimulus programs enacted under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in the form of job-creating, infrastructure-producing programs such as the WPA and the CCC, back in the days of the Great Depression.

Some Might Find It Ironic that Conservative Republicans would so-readily reject this particular time-proven method of the last century. But with Mr. Scarborough now on record as dismissing the viability of this remedial option, an extremely brief analysis of those New Deal programs—the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)—may be in order.

Especially Now That We Seem to Be Wading through such another Republican-led, “last century”-type of swamp.

Here Is a View on the CCC Contrary to Mr. Scarborough’s “roads and bridges” argument, taken from a history of America’s national parks:

“While the CCC is no longer around, we have all felt its impact. We have driven past its camps, its fire lookouts, its bridges. The sweat and toil of more than 3,000,000 young men is now embodied in CCC-built facilities stretching from Maine to California. The federal government spent more than $3 billion on the CCC, and its investment is still bearing fruit every time people visit parks such as Great Smoky, Yellowstone, Mount Rainer, or hike the Appalachian Trail.”

(from “The Spirit of the Civilian Conservation Corps,” which may be found at: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/09/park-history-spirit-civilian-cnservation-corps)

The Legacy of These Parks and Buildings testifies to the frugal American sensibility. Anyone driving across our beautiful nation witnesses the combination of durability and attractiveness displayed in countless WPA projects and CCC structures—built through the “New Deal” as part of FDR’s cure for the Great Depression. They represent a substantial portion of the physical national infrastructure that serves us still, more than seven decades later.

How Would One Calculate the combined value of the residual American infrastructure? It’s certainly beyond our economics ability.

One Thing the Recent Past Has Taught Us, though, is that when the world places bets—on top of bets—on top of bets—on top of bets—to the extent that those bets overwhelm the value of the underlying pieces of paper (such as the net worth of Iceland)—it’s a good time to have something around that is more-substantial than “investment-grade” paper. Something like roads and bridges.

Each Road and Bridge and School Gym and National-Park Structure built during those difficult times has freed up investment capital. This freed capital has contributed to the tremendous great economic growth that we have enjoyed for the last sixty-five years.

When a Nation Thinks Only of Today, whether in terms of financial infrastructure or in terms of Islamist terrorists, the shortsighted results lead to economic disaster.

“Go out and Shop,” Said Small-Government President George W. Bush.

“Invest for the Future,” Is What Tax-and-Spend President FDR Said.

History Seems to Judge the differences for us—right now. And who would have imagined it, during these interesting times?

Republican Pot Calls Democratic Kettle "Black"

Speaking on his MSNBC Talk Show, Morning Joe, former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough today used the Bush White House as an example of how Republicans use government mechanisms—such as “pork barrel spending” and “you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours”—to over-extend the national pocketbook. These are the same mechanisms that Democrats historically use to get the work of government done, and judging from Mr. Scarborough's explanation, there is not much difference.

Telling How it Happened that the Bush White House and a Republican Congress lost sight of fiscal Conservative ideals, Mr. Scarborough explained that President George W. Bush needed a hands-off policy for his War in Iraq, and effected a reciprocal hands-off policy in relation to whatever else the Republican Congress chose to do on behalf of the American people.

President Bush Got Away with the War in Iraq. And Congress got away with economic murder.

This De Facto Treaty Between the Executive and the Legislative Branches of the Federal government meant that President Bush did not veto Congress’s legislation. In return, Congress gave the President free rein with the Iraq War.

In Other Words, per Mr. Scarborough, the government mechanisms of “pork-barrel spending” and “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” played the same role for “post-9/11” Republicans that these mechanisms played in the Democratic era of the “Great Society,” under Lyndon Baines Johnson.

The Ideologies of “Tax and Spend” and “Defer and Spend” may sound different to the ear, but the effect on the national economy is virtually the same.

History Now Judges LBJ's “Great Society”

The Grand Result of the “Great Society” culminated in this week’s election of Barack Obama as president-elect of the United States.

The Cost of LBJ’s Many Programs, simultaneous with the costs of the war in Vietnam, was high. It included a political switch toward the Republican Party, with the South abandoning the Democratic party completely until this year, and it gave ascendancy to the Conservative theories of Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush.

The Future Will Judge the “War on Terror”

The Result of “This Republican Era” will be judged by history, too. As LBJ’s Great Society has now finally been judged. Let us hope that the final verdict of the Bush extravagances will be as high.

How Both Sides Want It Both Ways

But the Important Thing to See, as far as American politics are concerned, is that we really are one nation, with comparable policies and ways of doing things:

We All Hate it When the Other Guy uses the Federal government to supplant States’ Rights, and we all hate it when States’ Rights trump progress best-available to the Federal government.

We Love Term Limits When the Other Party Is in Power, but when our party is in power, we see how essential are the advantages gained from continuity.

We Hate It When One Party Governs by “tax-and-spend,” and we hate it just as much when the other party governs by “defer-and-spend.”

“Pork-Barrel Spending” is only “pork” when it benefits genetic studies of fruit-flies to help cure autism, but not when it benefits the families of children with special needs. It’s “pork” when it goes to what you want, but it’s essential government spending when it’s for me and mine.

In Sum, the Democrats under Lyndon B. Johnson and the Republicans under George W. Bush are pretty much even, as far as overextending the Federal government for benefit of a perceived greater good is concerned, during the time of an unpopular war.

How Government Gets Done

“You Scratch My Back, and I’ll Scratch Yours.” According even to conscientious Conservative Joe Scarborough, it’s the way that government works.

And Not Even a Staunch Conservative
Like Joe Scarborough
Describes for Us a Better Way.