The reason that these programs were instituted was because the things that Rubio suggests work, DIDN’T work. People were left to die.

History apparently isn’t his strong suit.

I’m willing to bet that Rubio ignored the history of the US before the New Deal. He just wants a return to the years of the Gilded Age, where working people were little better off than slaves. A time when big families were the norm so that they could take of each other because otherwise there was nothing but destitution in the wind for them.

Rubio is right! Everybody knows that it was the New Deal that caused us to lose WWII and to then go on as the world’s only under-power. And everyone also knows that ever since the conservaturd revolution under Raygun things have only gotten much better.

What is wrong with these people? You’d think they could go down to the local food pantry, or almost any church, or visit dozens of volunteer organizations designed to just help people, and realize there are millions of people who fall through the cracks while the private organizations and mostly volunteers struggle to find the resources to provide for only a small fraction of those in desperate need.

Great post, B.T.

The New Deal and the Great Society “Weakened” America

Absolutely true, for all values of “America” = Billionaire rentiers.

Thousand Points of Light, people. Bush the Elder peddled that one, if you recall.

This is what these hoover- men and wilke-voters have been mumbling ever since wilson got us into that dratted leauge of nations lob lolly.. whats insidious and dangerous now is that our commercial media, for whatever reasons, and they are many im sure, is giving these people far more air time than they deserve or thier numbers or signifigance warrants. i think its not too much of a stretch to say that the capitalists, and everyone knows the rupert murdoch and roger ailes stories, have taken the billions they spent in researching mind contrrol through advertising, and put it to work sellling something else.

thats a good point drdick and to the point.

since these programs are immensely popular, it would seem that a Democratic President, so inclined, could use this to his advantage, and campaign to vigorously defend them.

Something of an academic exercise, given that we don’t have a Democratic President, don’t you think? While we’re wishing for stuff, I’ll take Eliza Dushku. (I’ve never really wanted a pony.)

Yes, when most of the people in a community are doing well and have something to spare, then if somebody (who was formerly doing well) fell on hard times, then people could gather round and take care of the “unfortunate” person. “Unfortunate” being the key word because it suggests that the hardship is a chance event, not a part of the internal contradictions and failures of society.

But when EVERYBODY is having hard times we are just not able to pitch in and help beyond barely keeping someone from starving. Even community groups, charities and churches will find the need to be far greater than they can provide for. This is what actually happened in the early part of the great depression. The communities pitched in, as Hoover asked them to, and soon found themselves overwhelmed.

This is the point when the entire society has to re-organize itself to do something to provide for the need. Apparently this young nit-wit has never thought about it that far.

Fulgencio Batista would be so proud. Is he directly descended from the Cuban dictator or does he just embrace the same values?

Rubio is a piece of garbage, a fool with no sense of history, but he perfectly illustrates the face of the modern GOP. Of course, if he gets the VP slot, the mindless MSM will say that helps with the Latino vote, as if Latinos aren’t going to vote in their own self interest. If I was a Latino I’d be insulted.
The GOP wants nothing more than to roll things back to 1929. It’s rather disheartening to think that the only thing standing in their way is a spineless Dem party with a Steny Hoyer mindset.

The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Republicans are open about what they’re doing, while Democrats make backroom deals and act like they are reluctantly doing “Shared Sacrifice.” It seems like the results come out the same, just Ds shed more crocodile tears.

Facts mean nothing to these people. They only hear money talking.

1929? No, no, no. Too late.

By 1929, there was already a federal income tax, Estate Tax, child labor laws, etc., etc.

(As an aside, I would love to hear how, specifically, the government has hobbled religious and charitable organizations.)

Duh. By making people less dependent on them.

Heh.

Seriously, though — this “crowding out” argument is such vapid BS. I wish I could remember the wingnut who said exactly the same thing a few months ago.

Nice of these putz’s to draw the line on self-reliance at people lacking the means to do so. They only like government as something to plunder, otherwise it’s all corps. and churches.

Public programs keep millions out of poverty:

http://www.offthechartsblog.org/public-programs-keep-millions-out-of-poverty-new-study-shows/

The only “persons” not self-reliant under this kind of regime are corps.

Rubio is a fascist but damn he is cute.

He and Perry to be quite a pair….non-believers in the Constitution…odd couple.

Ah, I remember — it was Franklin Graham. See the update in the post.

You must be kidding…one more “white” male cookie cutter look.

I can see a commercial where one of these Tea Party nuts is driving a model T,hanging clothes outside to dry, just like in the 1920′s.

That may be true today, but historically the social safety net programs that many of us would like to see kept in place originated with the Dems, and were fought tooth and nail by the GOP. I include the mid 60s Civil Rights bill too.

This is just a more sophisticated framing by the manly conservative movement that liberals are weak and flaccid. People like Ezra Klein buy into it. Here is commentary on an.example.

Call it “Helpless President Lit.” A recent Ezra Klein column is the latest in a growing genre which celebrates our Commander-in-Chief, not as a powerful leader, but as a perennial victim. It portrays him as someone who’s powerless over other people’s actions, and sometimes even over his own. In this genre the President is forever at the whim of forces beyond his control, even when he has a supermajority in the Senate and a strong majority in the House.

As Chait reminds us in the linked piece, Reagan was quite proud of telling people that he voted for FDR and only left the Democratic Party when “they left me” later.

So there’s literally nothing in Rubio’s analysis that isn’t the complete opposite of true.

Just as cracked as the Washington Monument.

I think we should check their belly buttons…….. Do you recall the SF short story about androids taking over? You could only identify them by the “made in USA” labels in their belly buttons.

No, but I like it already;)

When the USG “fixes” something, it isn’t even fixed. The WM was closed for restoration from 1996-2000. Ooopsie.

It was so long ago that I can’t recall. I think it may have been a Rod Serling Twilight zone — or perhaps a Ray Bradbury.

Private contractors did that work.

I shoulda guessed.

If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them.

And if them coloreds came knocking on his door, you helped him hang ‘em.

Pirates masquerading as missionaries.

Whatever ideological underpinnings upon which the right used to base their hatred of all things New Deal, it’s clear their present efforts are intended to nothing more than take control of the funds dedicated to Social Security, and absolve themselves of the existing obligation to pay back funds ‘borrowed’ from the Social Security Trust fund.

The MOTU have convinced both parties that the cost of their continued support is that they be ‘given’ control of what is clearly the people’s money, which of course, constitutes the most craven instance of ‘entitlement thinking’ one can point at in America today.

The Republicans, for their part have enlisted the large and stupid portion of their base to take up the senseless ideological portion of the fight in order to provide cover for the rapacious activities of the small and criminal element that constitutes their ‘actual’ base.

The Democrats simply see no way to stay in the ‘game’ other than to cave to the overwhelming power of money.

So, we’re caught between the two parties, one which feels ‘entitled’ to steal from us, and covers that fact with phony ideology, the other has decided to forego ideology altogether, because well, it’s too much work.

I’m talking about the here-and-now. How Democrats used to be is way different than the Third Way/DLC Democrats who run things now. The Democratic party has been and continues to take a hard right turn.

Someone remind me: what prevents me from helping my neighbor/dispensing some brotherly love if s/he happens to HAVE insurance? Or is s/he DOES happen to have access to a doctor? (My medical training is rusty, I admit–I’m not up to much more than triage.)

Only the well-off are stupid enough to dispense such garbage. A Dem president worth half a crap would have such people for lunch. Oh well.

“crowding out” argument is such vapid BS.

Yes, everything was Just Peachy, and for no reason at all the damn gubmint started sticking its nose in, helping the destitute and diseased, promoting civil rights, feh.

Socialist liberal overreach!

Much of that can be attributed to Bill Clinton, the son that George H.W. Bush would like to have had, and one of the biggest frauds to ever occupy the WH.

Hey, Dumbfuck. I did save for my retirement. It’s called Social Security and I tucked away 6.2% out of every paycheck and my employer matched those savings. The Bad Old Gubbmint isn’t ‘giving’ me anything. I saved for it.

You’re calling Rubio a “dumbfuck”?????

Methinks you are too kind.

It has been suggested that a possible reason for the fall of Rome was lead in the cookware. Historians in the not too distant future will likely attribute the fall of the United States as a result of terminal ignorance and superstition. Not in the cookware but over the airwaves.

Remember that Rubio is a first-generation American and doesn’t have a life-lng history with SS. He really doesn’t have anything invested in the program. I, on the other hand, have my whole life.

Marco “Dipshit” Rubio said, “If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them. You saved for your retirement and your future because you had to. We took these things upon ourselves in our communities, our families, and our homes, and our churches and our synagogues.”
——
And where, praytell, do you draw the line. What happens when the “community” doesn’t have the resources. I’ll tell what happens nimrod. People die, people lose their home, people get old and after a life of minimum wage jobs they have no savings and end up eating catfood because REAL food is too expensive. And tey live in dilapidated homes, if they HAVE a home.

Dastardly, despicable, black-hearted bastards (TM), that’s what today’s republican party is made up of. “I’ve rom my daddy who worked 60 hours a week until he died. But that’s not relevant.”

I’m not arguing, but I thought it was the chlorofluorocarbons. I’ve personally observed that those people whio use/used lots of aerosol hairspray are dumber than most.

I can’t hire my unemployed neighbor, nor he, hire me. But these folks finally entered the Overton window with the words “National Jobs Program”:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44255018

Imagine paying a person without a job, 20,000 dollars base salary with 10,000 dollars worth of benefits too.

What, no American flag lapel pin?

Ain’t no “stretch.” It’s the only logical conclusion. Masters of mindfuckery.

Apparently Rubio is unaware of the concept “of the people, by the people, for the people.” If he were aware then he wouldn’t be opining how “we” no longer take care of each other because of “the government has the responsibility of doing so.”

The government is “we the people” or its’s supposed to be.

Perhaps its the cynic in me but I suspect Rubio is more than aware of how and why our government was created. His larger problem is that the government can’t be selective about who deserves help and who doesn’t and selectively leave out brown people or women who’ve had children out of wedlock or anyone who Rubio and those like him don’t “feel” are deserving of precious dollars that could be going back to the uber rich or their enterprises.

The other evening I had my rant about the “good old days.” You are being too kind to the guy.

The thing than makes the conservatives pee in their pants is the notion that someone not their color or religion or social class can actually have equal access to ordinary needs for a decent life. You see it ain’t no fun being white male Christian and rich if you don’t get to deprive others of things you like.

Neglected to mention in my earlier post that Rubio is largely a Jeb Bush creation.

Indeed, life is good for the “haves” and “have mores”. Their socio-political philosophy, ” I earned everything I inherited from my daddy including being CEO of his company. I got mine so YOU go out and get yours.”

I have an old republican classmate who inherited his daddy’s law firm. Now he’s president and he sneaks in a couple hours of work each week between rounds of golf at the country club. We both turned 60 within 12 days of each other. He makes more in an hour than I make all day. But, I guess I should have chosen my parents better.

Next time I’m gonna do more research.

Yes, Mario, those were such good times…so good, in fact, that my paternal grandmother waited too long to have surgery that might have saved her life and died, leaving my father and his two younger siblings to fend for themselves, since their father had previously abandoned the family.

What a putz.

WPA and CCC, as many New Deal programs, were both EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
O could literally pull out a pen at this very minute and sign it. And poof, magic, jobs appear.
How long does that “pivot” to jobs take? Maybe like trickle down, he expects us to wait 50 years?

As someone posted, trickle down DOES work, … pain and suffering is trickling down all over us, while the top … buy another recently-foreclosed, and thus a great bargain, home.

Elderly poverty fell from 35% to 10% because of SS and the New Deal.

http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/summer04/w10466.html
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/07/elderly_poverty.html
http://www.nber.org/papers/w10466

It’s not cynical to think Rubio knows this. He does. It’s reality.
He lies because the lies works and he gets paid.
It’s that simple.
And no, he has no problem with senior poverty going back to 30%. It could go to ANY NUMBER, including 99%. It’s literally NOT important to him. It’s irrelevant. All he cares about is him getting paid.

What Rubio didn’t mention is that people paid with “chickens” to the health providers back in those days. My Dr. will not let me bring a chicken into her office. Since Rubio thinks that Government has caused people to become “weak”, we should cancel his Government Paid For Health Insurance and his family can nurse him back to health.

Rubio is just a joke. I bet Obama and his thugs are cracking the “bubbly” over on Martha’s Vinyard.

These programs weakened us as a people. You see, almost forever, it was institutions in society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them. You saved for your retirement and your future because you had to. We took these things upon ourselves in our communities, our families, and our homes, and our churches and our synagogues. But all that changed when the government began to assume those responsibilities. All of a sudden, for an increasing number of people in our nation, it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because that was the government’s job.

This idealistic view of conditions during the time that the New Deal was implemented raises some questions.

In the depression era, many institutions could not keep up with the need, and many parents of the elderly did not have the means to take care of their parents or other extended family.

My Social Security benefit will pay me about $168,000. over ten years, there is no way that I could have saved that in a lifetime of being a probably average middle or working class consumer through the latter half of the 20th Century unless I limited a lot of my purchases of various goods, autos and equipment before reaching retirement age. In fact, what Rubio suggests is antithetical to the proper functioning of our consumer society – regardless of the level of participation in that scene.

How much more capital has been put back into the economy as goods purchases rather than elder care since SS payments to retirees began?

Many of today’s charitable institutions (including churches) are now stretched to the limit, as giving declines when the economy slows down. This is not likely to change much even if and when our economy improves, as the number of people needing help increases along with the population.

These security programs such as Social Security and Medicare do impose a discipline due to the mandatory deductions from income; conservatives object to that because of a belief in individual responsibility. But, we live in community, like it or not, lives are visible to others for the most part, and shouldn’t a spirit of wanting to look out for others on at least some fundamental level be something to strive for? Those who want to conflate religion with political ideology need to realize that our often claimed Judeo-Christian ethic requires special attention to the less fortunate as a priority.

That implies that Moses and Jesus want well run and efficient government food banks.

For those who met misfortune, that wasn’t our job to take care of them. That was the government’s job. And as government crowded out the institutions in our society that did these things traditionally, it weakened our people.

I believe that one of the goals of a large percentage of the US population is the American way of life of faith – for some – family and carving out a life of at least some enjoyment and happiness, good times with friends. Social Security and Medicare go a long way towards a bit more peace of mind and financial flexibility for all of who have parents, and certainly for the parents themselves.

Maybe Rubio is throwing out a rationale, another stalking horse for Republican austerity for the middle class and below. I see no evidence that our people have been “weakened,” that is an audacious and insulting claim.

More evidence that many Republicans are misanthropes.

Rubio deliberately misses the point of American government. “We” are still taking care of our neighbors because “we” are the people who tell our government to create programs that deal with problems like a population that ages and still has needs but is unable to labor any longer.

His assertion is ridiculous and removed from reality because “we” are generally the drivers of policies, or at least “we” are supposed to be. “We” are the people, in we the people.

He is just another ‘low count republican’..Lets go to Wash and see if we can make a difference. http://october2011.org/standwiththemajority

And what they got to cure their ills was chicken soup.