This page was last updated on July 15, 2010.
Pres. Herbert Hoover: Cut the deficit; Randy Shannon; Progressive Democrats of America – PA 4th CD Chapter; July 13, 2010.
July 21st Noon Tell Cong. Altmire: Don’t touch our Social Security!; Randy Shannon; Progressive Democrats of America – PA 4th CD Chapter; July 14, 2010.
The leadership of Progressive Democrats of America – PA 4th CD Chapter consists of Tina Shannon (chairperson), Randy Shannon (treasurer), and Carl Davidson (webmaster), a self-described Marxist who once “tr[ied] to create a new communist party.” They also appear to be the leaders of Beaver County Peace Links. The Shannons were also leaders of the apparently-defunct Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice. In the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) [originally a splinter group of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA)], Mr. Davidson is a co-chair and the Shannons are members of the CCDS national coordinating committee.
The purpose of this critique is to address comments made by Bob Schmetzer.
Regarding the Hoover post, Mr. Schmetzer wrote, “The right wing extremists and wall street gamblers want to preform [sic] a Hoover Maneuver on our bank accounts and Social Security. Be afraid, be Very afraid!” This is what I call a drive-by comment because Mr. Schmetzer doesn’t tell us what he means and doesn’t provide his definition of “right wing extremists.”
Let’s look at the alleged Hoover quote. The left likes to claim Mr. Hoover was a conservative, but that’s wrong. Though a Republican, Mr. Hoover was a “Progressive,” as were Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (R), Woodrow Wilson (D) and FDR (D). Further, Mr. Hoover once belonged to the Progressive Party and almost ran for office as a Democrat. The “Progressive” policies of both Mr. Hoover and FDR were among the reasons both were unsuccessful at ending the Great Depression.
I couldn’t find when Mr. Hoover allegedly made the comment, so I don’t know if it was while he or FDR was President. If it was while Mr. Hoover was in office, his administration increased spending by 57% by its last year (1932) and went from a budget surplus (11 straight years) to a deficit equal to 59% of the budget. If it was while FDR was President, Mr. Hoover had company. Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee in May 1939, Henry Morgenthau, FDR’s Treasury Secretary during the Great Depression said, “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong … somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises … I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … And an enormous debt to boot.”
Have you heard of the depression/recession of 1920-1921? Probably not, though most of us learned about the Roaring ‘20s. So how did we get from a depression/recession to the Roaring ‘20s? Presidents Warren G. Harding (R) and Calvin Coolidge (R) must have jacked up spending, taxes, and debt, right? Not exactly. Using 1920 (the first year after World War I) as a base, the Harding/Coolidge administrations reduced spending 55% by 1927, reduced taxes 45% by 1925, and ran eight straight surpluses. According to the BLS, unemployment for 1923-1929 averaged 3.3%. Now you know why lefties like to brush over the 1920s.
Regarding “July 21st Noon Tell Cong. Altmire: Don’t touch our Social Security!” Mr. Schmetzer wrote, “Social Security is a sacred trust .That is why it is in a Trust Fund. Thieves have always wanted to tap into the till. We need real trustees to protect our money. Ones that won’t cave in when the first lobbiest [sic] contribution arrives from the Banksters. We need a firm commitment from our elected officials in writing that they will protect the Trust.” I don’t know if Mr. Schmetzer is intentionally being deceptive or if he doesn’t know the truth.
The idea of a Socialist Security “trust fund” is an accounting sleight-of-hand myth. From the first day SS taxes were collected in 1937, SS taxes in excess of those needed to pay benefits were required by law to go into the General Fund via the purchase of Treasury bonds. Once in the GF, SS taxes lost their identity and could be spent on anything. Therefore, the SS “trust fund” has always been nothing but the equivalent of a box full of IOUs from the feds. The same is true for Medicare. As I am writing this, our debt exceeds $13 trillion and our current annual deficit exceeds $1.4 trillion. Translation: The mythical SS (and Medicare) “trust funds” were spent a long, long time ago.
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