Conservative's Conscience

FDR Showed the Way; Obama Follows

Prior to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Americans were not close to the federal government or to their president.

Except for public works projects dealing with roads, waterways, etc., federal intrusions into the private sector were relatively modest, and tax systems in place imposed their burdens (excise taxes and tariffs) in indirect fashion, buried in the prices of purchased or finished goods.  The income tax, except for wartime under Wilson, was a relatively modest one. 

Because functions of government were not intimate, neither was the president.  He was a removed figure of presumed power and virtue.  Much was made of competence and character during presidential elections because voters didn't have much more to vote for or against, except how capable a president or aspirant is, and how honorable he appears to be.

This political environment began to crack under Woodrow Wilson, under whose auspices the progressive ideology was fully absorbed by the mainstream, especially, but not exclusively, by Democrats.  It was then that the Democratic Party left its Jeffersonian roots (small government and states rights) and became the essentially liberal, big government organization it is today.

This movement toward progressivism, and away from the Founders, was slowed during most of the Harding/Coolidge/Hoover era although, toward the end, Hoover broke from his Republican heritage and bequeathed to the incoming Roosevelt (FDR) a few progressive prizes that were adopted and expanded upon: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which imposed abnormally high tariffs and restricted trade, a punishing marginal tax rate of more than 60 percent, which removed income from the private sector to cover the cost of federal programs, and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), an independent agency funded by the federal government that provided loans to banks, businesses and farms.

During his presidential campaign, FDR presented himself as a conservative.  He would cut spending by twenty-five percent and he would balance the budget.  "Let us stop borrowing to meet deficits," he said in a campaign speech.  And voters believed him at the time, because it was the fashion of the day to say and mean believable things during campaigns.  Candidates were expected to be competent and trustworthy. 

Then FDR went to work.  The small, tight government he promised disappeared in the flurry of new agencies -- about 200 -- that were created.  He never saw a budget surplus; debt skyrocketed.  In came an expanded income tax.  Taxes on dividends, estates, gifts and inheritances followed.  Also, higher excise taxes, payroll taxes and a retained earnings tax.  His campaign promises were shattered beyond recognition.  Surely, the electorate would turn him out in 1936.

But it didn't, for two principal reasons.  FDR was a truly remarkable personality on the stump, on the radio and personally.  The unemployment rate in 1936 was still 17 percent, which defined his New Deal as a remarkable failure, yet his ebullient nature and appearance still captured most Americans.  But there were other forces as well too, trends that would change the face of American politics forever.

Agencies FDR created had four important qualities that affected politics: They expanded federal government size, and its civilian workforce; they funded projects throughout the nation that resulted in jobs; they provided all forms of welfare benefits and they had the power, through taxation and intimidation, to substantially determine policy for entire industries.   

Voters in 1936 for the first time looked to Washington and the president for more than character and competence.  To hell with those things -- they now wanted a slice of the goodies that were coming out of FDR's self-created supermarket in Washington. 

You want a bridge that will make you popular?  Wink, wink -- You've got it.  And so it went across the nation.  Favors for friends; deprivation to enemies.      

What have you done for me lately? Replaced: Are you a good and capable man?  In 1936, while the rest of the nation suffered historic unemployment, the roster of civilian federal employees had increased by 260,000.  FDR took billions from the private sector to protect and increase non-productive federal jobs.  

Barack Obama has learned one of FDR's primary lessons: Results, not promises, are what count.  Say what you must to get elected.  Then deliver, or appear to deliver, and never admit you're not delivering. 

And armed as he is with FDR-like charisma -- at least, for a year or so -- his chances of pulling it off, irrespective of results, are not to be discounted prematurely.

Relative to promises made, Obama is on the FDR track.  For example, here are a few made and (thus far) broken ones:

• Troops are not coming home, and the total number in Iraq and Afghanistan is higher than ever. 
• War policy of Bush is unchanged.
• Guantanamo Bay is still open.
• Zero tax for seniors with incomes below $50,000 has been ignored.
• Bush wiretaps are still in place. 
• Zero diplomatic progress in Iran, North Korea and Israel/Palestine.  North Korea is more dangerous than ever.  
• A deteriorating relationship with Russia.
• Exploding debt.
• No earmarks -- the entire stimulus package was an earmark.
• No lobbyists in government -- they are all over the place.
• An exposure of major legislation on the Internet for viewing and comment before voting has been ignored.

The list could go on and on.  And Republicans seem to believe that because of this, their chances in upcoming elections look good, all the more so because Obama has in process  attempts to redo the American economy (energy and healthcare), which will require -- as it did under FDR -- higher taxes, imposed in the middle of a recession.

Wow! -- Broken promises; increased danger overseas; higher energy costs; rationed health care; high unemployment; higher taxes.  Looks like a cinch for Republicans.  But wait!  They have forgotten you. 

Elections are no longer decided by character, capacity and achievable ideas.  They are determined by who is holding the checkbook, and who has the brightest smile and the smoothest line.  How will voters react to the baskets of goodies proposed by the various candidates?  Will Obama's results even be noticed?   

Obama was elected in the first place because he promised the most goodies in the most promising way.  He has studied FDR to advantage, and when the year 2010 turns, you can look for more than $500 billion of unspent stimulus money being poured into battle ground states for the purpose of maintaining or improving Democratic power in Congress.

It worked in 1936 to re-elect a charming but unsuccessful president; it can do so again.