During the Great Depression FDR spent huge amounts of money to try and get the economy back on track and provide the average American with assistance. In doing this he created a debt for future generations. During our current economic crisis President Obama is making similar attempts to help Americans. Do you think it is (was) worth our country going further in debt to help Americans in their time of need? Please explain why and be respectful in your comments to classmates! Make sure you include your email address when you post your response.
35 Comments
brianna
3/21/2010 11:41:20 am
Yes, I do think that helping Americans in a time of need such and then with FDR and now with Obama is necessary and no matter how much money it takes we should be helping our fellow Americans. Because in the long run as a country we have to unite and be there for the people who we share it with. Especially in a time of need. It will always cost money, but will always be worth it.
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Ryan Howe
3/21/2010 12:23:24 pm
When FDR was president, it was necessary to put us further in debt in order to pull us out of the depression. FDR was wise in giving out money. He used the money to create projects. These projects created jobs. Jobs were needed in order to get the money flow back to normal. Now, however, Obama is not using the money the same way as FDR did. He is spending more money on bail-outs, than he is in trying to create jobs. This is the difference in FDR, and that difference is what made it okay for FDR to go further into debt.
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Ryan H
3/21/2010 12:28:49 pm
I agree and disagree with Brianna. Money is needed to help in the times of a crisis. However, I disagree with Spending however much money it takes. When you think of it this way, money is spent poorly. It needs to be thought as, "spending as little amount of money in order to pick up our country back up on its feet."
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Zain B
3/21/2010 12:46:48 pm
Yes I do think the spending is justified. You need to spend money to make money right? Well in these cases we need to spend money just to stay afloat and hopefully repay it later. If FDR didn’t spend during the depression and Obama doesn’t spend now we won’t even be able to pay the debts we already have because we won’t have an economy at all. Our country would diminish as a whole if we did not spend. Poverty would increase, population would decrease (who wants to live in the poor country), and respect from other countries would decrease (can’t afford to maintain international positions) which is worse than the debt. Besides isn’t this nation based on debt, first indentured servants, later debt as a safeguard against other nations, and now credit cards; its kind of the American way.
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Zain B
3/21/2010 12:56:06 pm
This time with E mail
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Natalie
3/21/2010 02:22:10 pm
yes i think in helping out americans it really got and is getting our economy back on track because even thou were going farther into debt were improving our lives slowly but surely. even if he didnt help us out one bit we would still be in debt, and it wouldnt even matter. so why not improve are own lives and our own society? i think it will all turn out better in the end.
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natalie
3/21/2010 02:22:58 pm
i agree with Zainy in saying you have to spend money to make it.
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Muma
3/22/2010 02:25:52 am
I believe that the government should always do whatever is necessary to help out their constituents in their time of need. If your people are starving to death, It is your job as a leader of the country to make sure that they have food. I believe that going further into debt is worth it if you are doing the right thing.
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Muma
3/22/2010 02:26:52 am
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Muma
3/22/2010 02:33:33 am
I disagree with Ryan. FDR bailled out businesses too. Those bailouts just weren't as well publicized as his public works projects. The Republican's critic view of everything Democrat, unless they are viewing it in hindsight, is one of the main problem that keeps the country from being able to recover. The constant fighting amongst the two parties continues to make this economic recovery happen much slower than the one that brought us out of the Great Depression. Progress cannot happen when no agreements can be made within Congress.
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Molly G
3/22/2010 06:04:27 am
It is necessary, as FDR did, to spend money to revive the economy, but there needs to be limits. It is not fair to future generations. Many people today complain about the huge debt we are in and it is partly caused by spendings from the past. It is necessary to help people in need, but future generations need to be kept in mind too. We may not be here to see it, but we are not helping them now by going further into debt. They will be in need too, and why should we further punish them with our debts? It is selfish to only be concerned about ourselves right now, just in our life time. It is necessary though, to help ourselves too, there just needs to be limits.
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Molly G
3/22/2010 06:10:30 am
I don’t exactly know all the facts on how Obama is spending money, but Ryan has a good point in that FDR was spending money in the right ways. Creating jobs is a huge issue during times of recession and FDR, did accomplish that successfully. I like Ryan’s quote. It stresses that spending is necessary in order to revive the economy, but the least amount possible, should be spent.
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Paige L
3/22/2010 12:13:08 pm
I do agree that it is/was worth our country going further in debt to help Americans in their time of need. I agree with this because when FDR was president he spent our country's money in the right ways. He helped to create numerous ways for both men and women to get jobs and restart their lives. I believe that FDR really did save our economy and even though we obtained a lot of debt, he was able to put our country back on its feet. As for today, I still believe this as well. Being in debt is not a good thing for our country, but at least our economy is growing and staying prosperous.
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Sarah H
3/24/2010 07:09:25 am
Although we all would rather not go further into debt, at the same time, what else are we supposed to do in times of need? The government is most certainly not perfect, but they have one important job, and that is to lead and protect our country. If the country were attacked or experienced a natural disaster, the government would do what they could to help/fix the situation. The same thing should apply to an economic crisis, as any other crisis.
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Sarah H
3/24/2010 07:11:13 am
I agree with Ryan
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Paige L
3/25/2010 02:21:53 am
I agree with Sarah in her saying "The government is most certainly not perfect, but they have one important job, and that is to lead and protect our country. If the country were attacked or experienced a natural disaster, the government would do what they could to help/fix the situation." The governement's first priority is to protect the people so they should do whatever it takes to make sure that is achieved.
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Brianna
3/25/2010 02:23:10 am
I agree with Moly that it is way necessary for FDR to have had to spend the money in order to help the American people. Just as now it is necessary for Obama to spend the money, although as little as possible would be GOOD!
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Brian W
3/26/2010 07:12:52 am
Yes, I do think that helping Americans in a time of need such and then with FDR and now with Obama is necessary. It's necessary for Obama to spend the money, although he needs to spend as little as he can. the Government just has one important job, and that is to run and protect our country.When FDR was president he spent our country's money in the right ways though too.
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Brian W
3/26/2010 07:15:08 am
I agree with Brianna on the view that Americans in a time of need such and then with FDR and now with Obama is necessary.
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Craig J
3/26/2010 03:03:53 pm
I think we should be spending money to get us out of the recession. We are in a time of need and things don't seem to be getting that much better. Batman once said, "It's darkest right before the dawn." or something like that. Which means, things are going to get worse before they get better. We America needs to get out of this economic slump, and sadley the only way to do that is to spend more money.
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Craig
3/26/2010 03:05:12 pm
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Craig J
3/26/2010 03:10:16 pm
I agree with molly about how it should affect future generations. Thats would be totally unfair.
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Taylor D.
3/27/2010 01:56:40 am
Yes, the government should go into debt to help the American people. It can only help our nation later on. This would get us out of the recession that we are in and get our economy back to where it was a few years ago. Americans, no matter how bad their financial situation is, still have to pay taxes to the government. So, no matter what, the government could help Americans. However, the government cannot just give a family a check worth so much money and expect them to spend it on materialistic things to boost our economy, like they did last year. When people are about to lose their homes, they aren't going to buy more things to fill it up with. The government needs to work with mortgage companies and other bills Americans are behind in. Then maybe we will spend money that's given to us to help the economy out.
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Taylor D.
3/27/2010 02:01:02 am
I agree with Zain. Like he said, you have to spend money to make money. It's the only way anything positive will ever come. Zain also brings up a good point when he talks about us losing respect from other countries. We've been on top for so long that now when we're hurting other nations look to us and they lose faith and respect in us. Also, we have had our hands in so much of other people's business that we're so involved, we are now hurting, effecting other nations. We should go into debt to help American citizens.
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Ashley C
3/28/2010 02:32:36 am
I do think that it was wise what FDR did. Think about it, would he be seen as one of the best presidents of our time if what he did was so horribly wrong. I lean both ways on this is issue but then again I do not have a political or economic mind. With that being said I have to rely on our government. If Obama is doing what FDR did then it must not have been a total disaster. So I agree with what FDR and Obamam did or are doing.
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Ashley C
3/28/2010 05:34:42 am
I agree with Taylor when she said that it is common sense that when people are behind on their bills they are not going to spend money on frivilous things. They need help to boost the economy through the purchasing of goods and services.
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Bobby C.
3/28/2010 01:11:38 pm
What FDR did was bring our country out of the worst depression our country has ever seen. If he did not spend the money he did to bring us out of the depression then the country would not have recovered fully and we would have not been as productive as we are in today’s economy.
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Bobby C.
3/28/2010 01:14:46 pm
I agree with Sarah, the government is there to serve and protect the best interests of the country from any kind of disaster even if it is economical.
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Amberleigh V.
3/28/2010 02:01:16 pm
I do think it is necessary to help Americans when they truly need it. If our nation goes further into debt to help feed families, then so be it. Right now it doesn’t seem to be a big deal when we spend government money on other countries, so why not spend it on our own citizens who need help too? People have a tendency to think that when a president spends money, that it’s bad. It’s only bad when they don’t invest in the right things. FDR had a second bill of rights that he wanted to put into action, but he died before he could get it passed. This second bill of rights would have included Americans to have: a job with a living wage, freedom from unfair competition and monopolies, a home, medical care, education, and recreation. All these listed would have cost money, but it would have helped Americans. We need something like this to pass now. BUT the problem is… is that yes we agree that everyone should be entitled to the things listed above, … but then people would come in with fingers pointed and yelling “communist!” or “socialist” .. just because we think that everyone should have the right to happiness. It wouldn’t be communism though, because the wealth could stay wealthy, and people could always strive to be something better, but if we had a new and higher standard of living for the lower class, it would help out a lot of people. People will always want more no matter what economic status they fall into, but there are people who can’t eat 3 meals a day, or afford to pay for heat and electricity, or pay to get a leaking roof to get fixed. If the government could step in and help everyone get some sort of job to help pay bills and whatnot, then there wouldn’t be such a huge percent of people living in poverty.
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Amberleigh V.
3/28/2010 02:07:58 pm
I agree with Natalie that spending money to help better our lives now is what we should do. How many billions or trillions of debt are we in? I don't think at this point we should care as much about "balancing a national budget" (the presidents don't seem to either...) because no one has that amount of money to put our country at a stable amount. We need to focus on what will help us out now AND in the future. Long-term help is needed, and it's needed soon.
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Mrs. T
3/29/2010 03:22:55 am
Thoughtful responses, all! I am frustrated, like many of you, by the irresponsible spending our government does. I am also frustrated that our congresspeople have such a hard time spending on protecting Americans financially and an easy time protecting us physically from foreign foes and helping out other nations. Debt is a scary thing, though. We owe many other nations money. At what point does America not belong to Americans? This is not a simple question to respond to, and I appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback.
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Morgan P.
3/29/2010 03:31:33 am
I do believe it was necessary what FDR did at the time because although it dug our a country a deeper hole financially it helped our citizens by creating new jobs for them. Why should they care what happens to the economy after they all pass away it wasn't going to effect them. So I believe FDR did the best thing that he possibly could at the time. Obama on the other hand is not doing what FDR did, because Obama is focusing his money on bailouts, which could help us in the long run but Americans need help now. He should start making government programs like FDR did so they can start creating new jobs and not waiting for the bailouts to start working.
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Morgan P.
3/29/2010 03:33:30 am
I agree with Ryan when he said Obama is focused on bailouts and not creating jobs for Americans now, rather than later.
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Ted S.
4/11/2010 02:55:10 am
No. Shifting debt from one form to another does not help the people in their time of need. Either way, the people still are in debt, it only changes when they have to pay it off. Spending money may be necessary in some situations, but it generally is not the answer to enormous debt.
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Ted S.
4/11/2010 02:58:29 am
I also agree with Ryan on the same premises as Morgan.
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