President-elect Obama's economic plans aren't left-wing and government-centered enough for CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, who about 20 minutes after Obama's Friday afternoon press conference shared his personal suggestion for another WPA (Works Progress Administration) and/or CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), two government make-work programs from the 1930s. To a guest who lived through the Depression as a child, Sanchez proposed: “I'm thinking WPA, I'm thinking it may be time for Americans to do something like that once again because there's so many people unemployed and there's so much that needs to be done in this country.”
With another guest in the same 3:30 PM EST segment, Sanchez cited energy requirements and wondered: “Isn't this the kind of need that could be met by American workers if the government created a WPA or CCC plan?”
Sanchez's comments:
RICK SANCHEZ: I want to bring in John, because John's a World War II veteran which means he's old enough to remember when this country had to pull itself from its boot straps in the past. John's sitting in the middle of our everyman panel over here. You know, John, as I listen to these conversations and I read these numbers about how bad things are, I'm thinking WPA, I'm thinking it may be time for Americans to do something like that once again because there's so many people unemployed and there's so much that needs to be done in this country. Give us your own personal historical reference to this.JOHN GALLAGHER: I'm one who grew up during the depression and I know a great amount of frustration that people had. The WPA did a lot. The CCC did even more to give people something to do to improve their spirit and just give them a sense of purpose.
SANCHEZ: Do you think something like that would be effective at a time like this?
GALLAGHER: For people who don't have work to do: yes.
....
SANCHEZ: Patricia Murphy joins now us as well. You know, that conversation we had moments ago about this country, you know, there's so much that we need when it comes to energy, the possibility, as Boone Pickins has mentioned, that we can go to wind, to solar. Isn't this the kind of need that could be met by American workers if the government created a WPA or CCC plan like we had as John, our World War II veteran, mentioned moment ago?
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Make Work Jobs Don't Make Wealth
November 7, 2008 - 17:14 ET by allanfWith all kudos to Samuelson, the New Deal, while popular with voters was an economic failure. Governments are just not very good at creating wealth.
Rick, before you take joy in concentrating economic power in politicians, remember the Republicans may one day rise again and grab hold of that concentrated power.
Make work jobs don't make weath.
Somehow
November 7, 2008 - 17:15 ET by ahusserthe stockmarket takes a dip and unemployment blips up a couple of points, maybe a recession and now we are back in the 30's with souplines and 25 percent unemployment. I think they wish it so because it was the last high water mark of socialism in this country.
"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox
Lessons of Depression
November 7, 2008 - 17:18 ET by Gat New YorkIt was the New Deal avalanche of government programs and mandates that sunk us into The Great Depression fron what was a recession.
These myths perpetuated by ignorant reporters like Sanchez are dangerous.
I agree Gat
November 7, 2008 - 17:33 ET by ahusserBut these guys still talk about McCarthyism also. These myths never go away and there are a ton of them.
"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox
Make worth Jobs don't last
November 7, 2008 - 17:31 ET by 10ksnookerFDR didn't fix anything with his make work agencies. If it weren't for WWII we would still be making work up. Make work is just take, central planners make up the work, and people take their shovels and move the rocks around. In the old Soviet Union they shoveled the sand off in the day and put it back at night, so the day crew would have work.
America's freedom, liberty and self realliance will never fail.
It's not a depression, stupid
November 7, 2008 - 17:21 ET by nkviking75Sanchez obviously believed the hype. This economy is nowhere near a depression. Besides, history shows that the country didn't come out of the depression until World War II when our manufacturing capacity was rapidly converted to produce wartime materials.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
oh don't worry
November 7, 2008 - 17:29 ET by Jnoble..as soon as the sun rises on Jan 21st, the MSM will shift gears so fast from "soup-line America/worst economy since the great Depression" to "things aren't so bad! Things are looking up!" it'll make your head spin.
like Rush always says..
November 7, 2008 - 17:27 ET by Jnoblethe MSM template NEVER changes.
Hey jackass, it's not 1933 anymore!
next package for sale?
November 7, 2008 - 17:46 ET by katainkentThe Great Depression 2.0 Neatly bundled with all the necessary trappings of Doom, Gloom and Social Solutions.
If they keep saying it, consumer confidence goes down, spending decreases, 70% of our GDP is retail related so GDP drops, so factory inventory rises, so production drops, layoffs increase, people have no money so spending drops further, so less production so more layoffs, etc etc....
Rinse and repeat.
When the FDIC FAILS then we will have a Depression..
November 7, 2008 - 18:05 ET by upcountrywaterAs if most of the people today have SAVINGS...ha ha..
25% unemployment... 6.5% now...
bank failures, all your SAVINGS go POOF, not yet.
We have a ways to go..0bama will speed things up..
Will he EVER kill this:
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT
of course we have the added thrill of this guy:
IranianUranium
mad max is worse than a depression
Ignorant and stupid is a lethal combination
November 7, 2008 - 18:30 ET by dboIn 1929 the three levels of government spent 8% of GDP. Today it's in the neighborhood of 35-40% depending on the stats you believe. And Sanchez thinks the problem is not enough government?
Is this gonna be mandatory?
November 7, 2008 - 18:48 ET by RackieWe could build World Citizen re-education camps. heh!
Why should anything these empty talking heads say be worthy of comment or consideration. When you can't do anything else, you get your sorry self on TV.
rackie, you are close to
November 7, 2008 - 21:18 ET by ConservativeRexrackie, you are close to the truth. The WPA and CCC were vestiges of the Wilson administration. The very first fascist we had as president. With FDR being the second (after all, he was in the Wilson administration).
The Progressives (Fascist) have always had an affinite for groups of a paramilitary fashion.
The Italians called them squadristi. History tells us that the CCC and WPA were run in a military fashion without actually being military. There were salutes etc.
I think mainly because a lot of these men were veterans of the Great War and they were used to that kind of life.
Bottom line; we don't need or want them. We can not afford them. He may just want to surround himself with a private army.
rex
November 7, 2008 - 21:26 ET by porpoiseboyi have also heard that wilson was a complete racist. which fits into what i have heard about the true facists of the world...the liberals...uh, i mean the progressives. can you elaborate more on that as you seem to be well informed on this?
Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
Wilson banned blacks from
November 8, 2008 - 11:55 ET by ahusserFederal employment and (i am not sure about this part) the combat arms military.
"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox
SANCHEZ: Patricia Murphy
November 7, 2008 - 19:00 ET by MidAmericaSANCHEZ: Patricia Murphy joins now us as well. You know, that conversation we had moments ago about this country, you know, there's so much that we need when it comes to energy, the possibility, as Boone Pickins has mentioned, that we can go to wind, to solar. Isn't this the kind of need that could be met by American workers if the government created a WPA or CCC plan like we had as John, our World War II veteran, mentioned moment ago?
hhmmm.... Every authortarian government likes to use cheap labor to fufill it's plans. So he want's the Green Revolution to be built from the pain of the unemployed. Worked for Stalin.
Idiot,
November 7, 2008 - 19:17 ET by SlicksterThe magic negro's supporters want handouts not actual work.
CNN is advocating putting black people on shovel gangs?
November 7, 2008 - 19:52 ET by Lame CherryI just laugh at these liberals in they have no idea what CCC and WPA were.
The term WPA as We Poke Along, in those people never worked and real working people were angered over those getting paychecks standing around holding shovels.
Sanchez doesn't quite understand that things like payloaders now build roads and the day of the fresno and shovel with horses is gone.
So what are 20 million Americans who don't work in the first place going to do without a union operators license for heavy machinery? Stand around on shovels and watch the big toys build roads and bridges?
I will be blunt. Most of these Obama idiots who think paradise has come have just found out that CNN liberals want them in mandatory work gangs of physical labor.
Most of these Obama idiots would be dead in the first 6 months in getting run over, concrete poured on them or any of a thousand other ways construction is dangerous and gets people who know their business killed yearly.
Do you really want an Obama voter 8 stories up in the wind, loosing his 30 pound wrench and 1 pound metal burrs to drop them on other Obama idiots 8 stories below which would make their brains go splat when that fast moving metal hits them?
What has Obamerica become, a multi million force of Mao street sweepers?
Oopps the union boys won't like that as they get paid 25 bucks an hour driving the sweepers, as America is a mechanized society.
Obamerica meets the cold slap of reality.
This gets worse each day as blacks are not good enough for the White House, but are good enough for shovel gangs mandated by liberals led by Obama.
School is open :)
agtG
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
What kinds of projects will
November 7, 2008 - 20:10 ET by fitzfongWhat kinds of projects will the new WPA be working on? Picking up dead bodies that a drunken Rick Sanchez ran over with his car? Well, I guess that will create a few jobs.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Irony
November 7, 2008 - 23:03 ET by Copperhead RidgeAbe Lincoln delivered slaves from bondage. Now, a black man is going to force all Americans into indentured servitude.
These community service hour requirements he proposes will make people servants of the government. All people will then be slaves.
The CCC and the WPA were slave organizations. My grandfather used to use a shotgun to run the CCC out of his part of his county. My mother has reported that he would say that his grandfather died to free men from slavery, so he would not allow slaves onto his land or his road.
American freedom and individualism is dying. We're letting it die.
sanchez
November 8, 2008 - 01:21 ET by misterbillHis real reason for wanting the WPA, etc is to create more jobs for illegal immigrants.
I told them so.
November 8, 2008 - 05:05 ET by ChattychitoI made mention of this in a letter years ago to the then president Ford to put all welfare receipients who did not have jobs on the a work program to sweep city streets and the nations highways.
Give them work not free welfare money. they would be considered contract workers not govement employees and they could end their contract at anytime by getting their own job. apy them minimum wage and only allow them to work 30hours a week report their pay to the IRS via a 1099 form so they would be required to pay tax on their income if it went above a cretain amount (never will at those hours).
there are plenty of Jobs they could do and be earning their way instead of getting free taxpayer money. Street sweeping, weed pulling, and I am sure we could think of some more projects for them.
No one ever listens to a lone wolf but when the pack howls then they fear.
»→ Dirty Sanchez
November 9, 2008 - 08:28 ET by Cool ArrowOl' Rick seems to have surrendered.
Makes sense that Sanchez would be advocating the issuance of shovels and rakes.