Chris Matthews: 'Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bailed Out Capitalism in the 30s'
The President that expanded the role, scope, and size of the federal government more than all that came before him or since is unquestionably Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Yet on Tuesday, moments after calling Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a "balloon head," MSNBC's Chris Matthews actually said FDR "bailed out capitalism in the '30s" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let’s take a look at this, by the way. This president gets no credit -- it’s almost like Rodney Dangerfield -- I get no respect. I mean, seriously. Suppose a Republican had done this. The Dow Jones, when he came into office in ‘09 in the spring, was down -- at one point down around 7,000. It really dipped down there as he was coming in, in March. It’s up now to 12,000. It’s just on the cusp. It’s been right up there. A little drop today. But it’s basically moving -- went up 100 yesterday. It’s -- Gene, why doesn’t he get credit -- if any Republican Burger (ph) or Babbitt had come in, you know, a Bob Dole or John McCain, typical middle- of-the-road Republican, a Jerry Ford, and gotten the market up 50 percent, their Babbitry would be through the roof! Look what we did for River City! Look what we did for Main Street. This guy must have done something right.
Must have done something right? Because the stock market has rallied since a few months after he was inaugurated?
To be sure, all of us with stock and mutual fund investments are very happy about this. However, when Barack Obama was inaugurated, unemployment was 7.3 percent. Now it's 9.4 percent.
It seems safe to say that the Hope and Change most of his supporters were looking for in November 2008 was gainful employment NOT gains in their stock portfolios.
To put a finer point on this, Gallup released a poll Monday finding America's satisfaction with government and the economy is down since January 2008 declining the most it has in ten years:
- People's view of their overall quality of life is down five points
- Their belief that folks have an opportunity to get ahead by working hard has declined by an amazing 13 points
- Their faith in our system of government and how well it works has dropped by eleven points.
I guess Matthews conveniently missed this poll:
EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Yes, and --
MATTHEWS: These clowns won’t give him any credit for this!
(CROSSTALK)
ROBINSON: -- administration that there’s a lot of stuff that he doesn’t get credit for. Nonetheless, people inside the administration are feeling better than they’ve felt in many months now. They had a great December. They feel like the speech in Tucson --
MATTHEWS: Yes.
ROBINSON: -- went over so well. They’re not just back in the game, they feel they’re back in control.
MATTHEWS: How can George W. Bush show his face after what he did to the economy, screwing everybody’s 401(k)? Every regular person who’s put a buck away was screwed by George -- he’s out selling books, acting like he’s Mr. Happy. Mark, I know you don’t want to be partisan here.
What George W. Bush did to the economy?
Isn't it marvelous how liberal media members all seem to ignore the fact that Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in January 2007 before the economy collapsed, and that Sen. Barack Obama voted for every budget that was passed before becoming President?
Reminder to Mr. Matthews: the Dow Jones Industrial average was at 12,539 when Obama and the Democrats took over Congress in 2007; the unemployment rate was at 4.4 percent. But I digress:
MARK HALPERIN, TIME: (INAUDIBLE) Mr. Happy.
MATTHEWS: But the strangeness --
(CROSSTALK)
HALPERIN: He is Mr. Happy. Look, Democratic presidents always have trouble getting credit when the economy does well, for whatever reasons. Bill Clinton had the same problem.
Bill Clinton had trouble getting credit for the economy doing well? Fortunately, Halperin would later correct himself:
HALPERIN: What Obama has to do to get credit --
MATTHEWS: Isn’t it funny that they tend to bail out the -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt bailed out capitalism in the ‘30s. He saved it from God knows what. And Bill Clinton gave them the best decade of their lives. And we’re with a 50 percent hike in the Dow.
FDR bailed out capitalism? The President that basically introduced socialism to this country bailed out capitalism?
What's really amazing about this comment was that throughout this installment of "Hardball," Matthews continually excoriated Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for comments she made this weekend about the history of slavery. In fact, he repeatedly referred to her as a "balloon head," and in a later segment beat up on Tea Party Express's Sal Russo for being at all associated with her.
Yet here was Matthews in the same installment showing a tremendous lack of historical knowledge concerning Roosevelt and the Depression.
For anyone to say the New Deal was pro-capitalism is absurd. Even the liberal-leaning Wikipedia has a firmer grasp on Roosevelt's economic policies:
During the New Deal period, the federal government evolved into an arbitrator in the competition among elements and classes of society, acting as a force to help some groups and limit the power of others. [...]
By the end of the 1930s, business found itself competing for influence with an increasingly powerful labor movement, with an organized agricultural economy, and occasionally with aroused consumers. This was accomplished by creating a series of government institutions that greatly and permanently expanded the role of the federal government. Thus, perhaps the strongest legacy of the New Deal was to make the federal government a protector of interest groups and a supervisor of competition among them. [...]
Farmers were not allowed to sell for less than the official price. The transportation industry was tightly regulated so that every firm had a guaranteed market and management and labor had high profits and high wages, all at the cost of high prices and much inefficiency[citation needed]. Quotas in the oil industry were fixed by the Railroad Commission of Texas with Tom Connally's federal Hot Oil Act of 1935 which guaranteed that illegal "hot oil" would not be sold.[52] To the New Dealers, the free market meant "cut-throat competition" and they considered that evil. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s that most of the New Deal regulations were relaxed.
Anything in that sound pro-capitalism to you? Lest we forget the various social programs created by FDR, in particular Social Security and welfare.
Maybe most importantly, none of it succeeded in growing the economy. Once again, even Wikipedia admits that:
The number of unemployed in 1929 was estimated at less than 4%, but by 1933 the unemployment rate had jumped up to approximately 25%. The New Deal was designed for complete economic recovery during the depression. However, the New Deal did not achieve full economic recovery. It actually had a limited economic impact. The New Deal failed to lower the unemployment rate below 14%.
Indeed. As most economists and historians agree, it was World War II and not Roosevelt's policies that ended the Depression. Even liberal economist Paul Krugman admitted that in November 2008.
As such, Matthews should have been calling himself balloon head rather than Bachmann.
For the record, Time's Halperin did later correct his view of how the press covered the Clinton economy:
HALPERIN: Bill Clinton, every day, even during the peak of impeachment, got credit for the American people for going out and doing things to make the economy better.
This despite Clinton having very little to do with the '90s economic boom.
Once again, even Krugman knows that.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
- Login to post comments
Bwahahahahaha
Hey Chrissy.... Maybe Wall Street is doing Great cause Barry Gave them Billions of Dollars...it's called a Bailout...... Maybe if he would of gave Billions to the work'n stiffs of America They would have jobs and be able to keep their homes. If ya really want to give credit where credit is do... Thank the American Taxpayer that was held up so the Wall Street Fat Cats could continue the party.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Give me a Billion and I'll be do'n just fine
roflmao
Me too
Pad my bank account with a billion or so, and I could limp along unemployed just fine
CA
My memory must be bad.I could of swore the Dems were in the majority after the 2006 election.Doesnt the budget have to go thru congress?
Congressman Joe Walsh
I usually can not STAND to see Republicans on MSNBC but this Illinois Freshman just handed Crazy Larry his lunch. You can tell Joe was winning because Lawrence was getting louder and louder and LOUDER but boy did Joe have an answer for everything and .......I haven't been so impressed since Rubio. I tell you Crazy Larry was positively RESPECTFUL of him at the end.
Oh, and Tingles is an idiot.
Comcast, Are You Listening To This?
I had the benefit of being raised by an intelligent family who separated the reality of the Roosevelt years from the propaganda for me. They survived through those years despite Roosevelt's best efforts. All of that aside, someone in Matthews position has the responsibility to know his America history well enough to avoid these embarrassing distortions. By his ignorance he shames himself, the journalistic community and those who put him on the air.
I hope that the new team at Comcast sees to it that he gets that education or places him where he can do no further harm.
About the Bachmann
About the Bachmann remark:
Accidently went to a leftist blog tonight where they were discusiing Bachmann's speech. First comment said, "I never thought anybody could be more stupid than Palin, but she's done it!" Second said, "Palin is Kim Kardashian, and Bachmann is Lindsay Lohan."
WTF is the matter with these people? I hate to give in to the ol' "my enemy is evil" thing, but geez, I'm coming to the conclusion that these people really ARE (evil)! Is it just because all women politicians are supposed to be libs or something? How can you hate people so much when you don't even know them -- and it's always the women, and it's always that they're "stupid."
Tha's 4 they've put their witchy targets on -- O'Donnell, Angle, Palin, and Bachmann. It's beyond a trend and beyond obvious.
Democrats are extremely
Democrats are extremely fearful of the possibility that the GOP may elect the first woman president before they do. That's why they beat up all of appealing female conservatives*, because the Dem's gender politics would go out the window. The same goes for a serious African-American candidate for the presidency, too - the mantra that Republicans are racist would go up in smoke.
* Kristi Noem better be prepared for the same tactics soon.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
You're right. It is EVIl busy
You're right. It is EVIl busy at work...and we all should be very afraid.
Where's Keith?
Keith is alive and well. He’s just dyed his hair blond and wearing contacts.
I'm going to propose an award...
...for all these liberal pundits and pseudo-newscasters who, discontent with merely twisting and cherry-picking the news, are now fabricating "facts" to fit their narrative. I propose we call it the Blatant Lie of the Week, or BLOW. It would be accompanied by a small but erect statuette similar to Oscar, but without any discernable markings. Something straight up, so to speak, that Chrissy could get his, er, hands around as he receives the first one. (I suspect Rachel will decline hers when she wins.) Instead of Oscar for a nickname, we could tag it "Dan." Steely Dan, of course.
Chris Matthews . . . . .
Chris Matthews . . . . . This guy's a phucking balloon head. He has a family history of Alzheimer's and it is starting to show. Are you listening Ron jr.
And capitalism, through taxes
And capitalism, through taxes and mandates, has continued to bail out government ever since.
*
Is anyone checking to see if Chrissy is taking his meds on schedule?
As I have posted before,
As I have posted before, Chrissy is plagued with serious emotional and sexuality problems. His hatred and fear of strong Republican women and his erotic attraction to skinny black presidents is quite strange.
Weapons grade stupidity.
Weapons grade stupidity.
real story
Now that Olbie is out, girlie boy is just making an ill fated run at Keiths 3 viewers to be the new crown jewel of msdnc. Kind of like wanting herpes to position yourself as a "playa"
As an econ major, I would
As an econ major, I would definately object to Chris' mischaracterization of historical and economic facts just so that he can make the false assertion that gov't intervention is a real and viable perscription to economic problems. In short, he's a liar and an ass-wipe.
This guy is on crack
He doesn't get respect from the public because he hasn't done anything to earn it.
He gets TONS of respect from the media, because they are his number 1 fans.
Chrissy is just mad because we aren't buying the crap that his ilk are selling.
We Are The 53%
Stock Market Trends
" The Dow Jones, when he came into office in '09 in the spring, was down-- at one point down around 7000. It really dipped down there as he was coming in, in March. It's up now to 12000...why doesn't he [obama] get credit "
Because he doesn't deserve credit.
The Market is anticipatory in its fundamental nature. It started dropping months before Nov. '08 in anticipation of an obama victory, and in response to the mortgage/banking problems (caused by libero-socialists Frank & Dodd).
On top of that decline, the Market took a nose dive in the months after the Jan. '09 inauguration, getting as low as 6600 in March '09... in anticipation of the financial disaster otherwise known as the obama economic [spending] plan.
So then, what made the market trend begin upward in spring of '09 ? Two phenomena are responsible. One is the The Tea Party which started in earnest in the spring, and led to the populist anger at democrats in the summer (remember those democrat town hall disasters ?). Because of the Tea Party Movement (and the anticipated resurgence of Republicans to the House), the market ancticipated a return of financial sanity.
The other phenomenon raising the Dow, is the high un-employment. Overall, markets do better in times of unemployment because they run leaner & meaner at such times. With fewer people... with less fat, companies tend to be more productive.
No, obama doesn't get credit for the market's rise. He's just the person sitting in the White House, observing the market rise in spite of his socialist theories.
Its been pointed out in several places, that for the most part, the companies that obama expected would benefit from all that "Hope & Change" (e.g., the wind, solar) are not participating to the same degree as other companies, in the upward Market trend observed today.
Even the Immelt-led GE is still languishing, currently at only about 20... and he, Immelt, is supposed to be advising obama on economic matters. A pre-Immelt GE was much better at weathering economic storms, due to wise management and its great diversification. With this guy giving advice to obama, he'll do for America what he has done to GE.
Nice to see
someone who "Gets It"...
and if theylet Olbermann go for his foolishness... one can only hope that Tingles is next.
FDR
Admired and to the best of his ability immitated the USSR. He surrounded himself with communists (sound familiar?). And he did more long term damage to the US than Hitler, Musellinie, and Tojo combined. FDR may yet be the death of the US. Certainy the trade unions his administration fostered have killed Detroit and American manufacturing.
His illegal seazure of Americans' gold and abandonment of the gold standard insured that our currency would continually go down in value (what would a dollar be worth today if we were on the gold standard?). His creation of the Federal Reserve lead directly to the biggest transfer of wealth from these shores in the history of mankind. His vote buying Ponzi scheme knowns as social security and it's socialist spawn from the LBJ years has put us into hopeless hock to a nation that has armed every fore that has killed American soldiers since WW2.
Hell is too good for FDR.
Noel, more from Answers.com (Wikipedia)
Here's a short history of New Deal Programs and Capitalism.
"The impact of the New Deal is still debated today. FDR believed that the legislation enacted during his administrations saved the capitalist system in the United States from the kind of political extremism that the depression caused in other areas of the world. He felt that businesses betrayed him by their attempts to defeat some of his measures that were harmful to them. Many Americans view the New Deal as socialist, and they are right: socialism, by definition, is state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. This was precisely the outcome of the New Deal. In fact, the New Deal was so dangerous to capitalism in America that many of the programs instituted by it were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court: such economic meddling by the Federal Government is not specifically allowed by the United States Constitution, and, according to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, such powers are "reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
Some think that the New Deal helped solve the Great Depression. However, in reality, it only prolonged and exacerbated it. That is why, in the rest of the world, the Great Depression is referred to simply as "the Depression." Only in America is it the "Great Depression," a status earned it by the New Deal. As a permanent formula for economic recovery, the New Deal was not successful. In 1937, as unemployment dropped, FDR dismantled many of the expensive government programs. Not all programs were removed, however; social security, one of FDR's many initiatives, still remains today, and causes many problems. The New Deal, and socialism in general, can be seen as good ideas in principle, but in retrospect, advocating them was a huge failure on FDR's part. The result of the New Deal was a mini-depression and an increase in unemployment. It was not until preparations for war led to massive purchases of American goods from abroad that the Great Depression came to an end. The New Deal was such a failure and so dangerous to America's economy that Congress decided, after Roosevelt died, to pass the Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president's terms to two in order to prevent another president like FDR from taking such control over America."
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
Chris Matthews: not-so-clever
Chris Matthews: not-so-clever history revisionist.
I am beginning to wonder if those tingles Matthews has been experiencing are actually mini-strokes.
His ignorance of the facts and history
is staggering.