[listenhillary]

The administration’s other response to the 1937 deepening of the Great Depression had more tangible results. Ignoring the pleas of the Treasury Department, Roosevelt embarked on an antidote to the depression, reluctantly abandoning his efforts to balance the budget and launching a $5 billion spending program in the spring of 1938,

[familyop]

I agree very much on the failures of most government spending, including much of the spending during Roosevelt's terms (although it would be sardonically enjoyable to cut a lot of Teddy's trees down). Have a look at how much spending is done now in administrations of both political parties, and especially, where it goes. That's gone from bad to far worse. Let's compare two evils: "forty acres and a mule" to family-busting. Compromises between the political parties do not work. The current trend of socialist and libertine gradualism toward pushing conservatives out of the Republican Party while inviting liberals into the administration of it will be the end of the Party. ...much like the '20s but worse.

Stopping social/welfare spending would be better, but immoral/nonworking methods of competition (corporate-government alliances pushing selective enforcements against smaller businesses) would have to be stopped, big federal law enforcement being the only working method of shutting the local mobs down so far.

[familyop]

"Roosevelt embarked on an antidote to the depression, reluctantly abandoning his efforts to balance the budget and launching a $5 billion spending program in the spring of 1938,"

I agree. And although the indicators did go up between 1934 and 1938 (Smoot-Hawley?), they did fall after 1938. Making steep spending cuts is possible (real cuts, not only smaller increases, as were done during the Reagan years), but those who administer both political parties would rather look at constituent money and noise than votes.