The ‘FDR made Depression worse’ fantasy

By Jay Bookman | Friday, January 2, 2009, 08:49 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

One the more remarkable aspects of the modern conservative movement is its eagerness to believe whatever it prefers to believe, whatever gives conservatives ammunition against their opponents, regardless of the facts and data and expert opinion.

The latest example of such behavior is the claim that FDR’s New Deal extended and deepened the Great Depression, a newly formed myth that is without any basis in fact. Yet it is embraced by some on the right solely because it bolsters their argument against policies proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

It’s telling that in its last days in power, the Bush administration isn’t having much truck with that notion, having proposed significant stimulus packages of its own and agreeing to bail out Detroit over protests from the hard right. Bush officials recognize that our economic situation is so grave as to preclude political point-scoring. But those without the burden of responsibility are free to, well, just make stuff up.

David Sirota, writing in Salon, has a nice piece debunking the FDR claim, not that it matters much. People willing to believe that the Clintons killed Vince Foster and there’s no such thing as global warming can talk themselves into believing almost anything. You can’t reason someone out of a position when reason had nothing whatsoever to do with putting there in the first place.

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http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookman/entries/2009/01/02/the_fdr_made_depression_worse.html

And the tax cuts worked. Or something. Clinton's fault. Carter's fault. FDR's fault.