Where is our FDR?

President Bush today called out to the American people to support the $700 billion bailout package for every kind of financial institution still alive. He stressed that this is necessary and imperative to preserve the health of the US economy and prevent it from sinking into a death spiral.

The question is why should we trust President Bush's opinion. This is an administration that lied about more serious issues (e.g. weapons of mass destruction in Iraq) resulting in people dying on the battlefields, an administration that intentionally jeopardized the lives and well-being of its own employees (Scooter Libby affair), an administration that has consistently usurped power away from the legislative branch and one that claims within its inner circles that we are only one Supreme Court Justice away from overturning Roe v. Wade.

Most importantly though, this is an administration that took a budget surplus and turned it into a huge deficit, that has done nothing about the ever-surging current account deficit, one that has stood by while our national debt ballooned. For the last 8 years, this Administration has followed the very principles that Wall street adhered to, and whose price we are beginning to pay right now. Reckless spending, uncontrolled borrowing, cutting taxes while burdening the government budget with more pork. At the same time, we as a nation have been financing our incomprehensible appetite for more consumption by borrowing from the same countries that are selling us the goods (i.e. China & the Middle East). Instead of investing in education, technology & infrastructure, we have been investing in bigger houses & more upscale lifestyles. I think that I was still in college during the Clinton years, that I last heard that we need to support the American producer. Ever since then, for the last eight years, I have been hearing that we need to support the American consumer.

But it is not Bush's fault. It is not Congress' fault. They say that in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve. We, as a nation, have grown fat & happy. The days of saving and craving something were replaced by larger credit card debt combined with instant gratification. We are more focused on what we will be doing after work, rather than what we are doing while at work. And worst of all, the few of us that work for the government are best at that.
And here is where the politician's responsibility lies. There was a time where the politicians in this country were leaders, not followers. In critical issues, they did not wait for their campaign staff to come up with the latest poll numbers in order to reply to journalists questions without offending anyone. They, just like David Crockett, drew the line, opened the path, showed the way.

When the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Administration created the New Deal, it had a plan. The investment was in developing vital infrastructure for our country, while creating jobs. The plan was to invest in our education, our public construction, our people and our land. It was not giving handouts to a few (or to many for that matter - remember the tax rebate!!) so that we can spend more on clothes made in China, oil made in Saudi Arabia & visit Paris for a vacation.

We need our own Franklin Delano Roosevelt to get out of the mess we got ourselves into. Sad to say but without a leader like that we might need another War as well. A real one, not one that sends only the "have-nots" to far away lands to die while the "haves" stay back home watering their lawns. So let's pray and hope (and vote!) for our own FDR. I doubt that any of the people on the ballot can rise to his statute, but can we rise to the challenge as a people, or do we HAVE to learn by experience once again?