"Forgetting Lessons of Keynes and FDR Brings On the ‘Obama Recession’"

David Woolner (new deal 2.0):

In the past two years we have heard official after official claim that they do not want to repeat “the mistakes of the Great Depression.” Yet the recent behavior of both the Obama Administration and senior members of Congress belies this claim. Rather than fight for economic policies that would stimulate the economy and put people back to work, this Administration — and even many senior democratic party officials — have chosen to ignore the lessons of the past. Instead of focusing on jobs and growth — the real crisis in our economy — they have embraced the sky-is-falling rhetoric of the Republican Party extremists. MORE...

Krugman: "1938 in 2010"

1938 Buick Coupe

Paul Krugman:

Now, we weren’t supposed to find ourselves replaying the late 1930s. President Obama’s economists promised not to repeat the mistakes of 1937, when F.D.R. pulled back fiscal stimulus too soon. But by making his program too small and too short-lived, Mr. Obama did just that: the stimulus raised growth while it lasted, but it made only a small dent in unemployment — and now it’s fading out.

And just as some of us feared, the inadequacy of the administration’s initial economic plan has landed it — and the nation — in a political trap. More stimulus is desperately needed, but in the public’s eyes the failure of the initial program to deliver a convincing recovery has discredited government action to create jobs.

In short, welcome to 1938. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Who was it that said “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”?

"Why the 44th president is no FDR—and the economy is still in the doldrums."

Michael Hirsh (Newsweek):

Obama was clearly not pushing very hard to be FDR or even his trust-busting relative Teddy Roosevelt. Now it looks like grim growth and unemployment numbers could extend all the way into 2012. Distracting himself with health care and other issues, Obama may have politically maneuvered himself out of the only major remedy that could bring unemployment down and growth up enough to assure his re-election: another giant fiscal stimulus. Today, after engendering Tea Party and centrist Democratic resistance to more government spending by pushing his health-care plan, the question is whether he has the political capital he may well need, in the end, to save his presidency. And after a two-year fight over financial reform, one other question still lingers: has Wall Street come out the big winner yet again? MORE...

Liberal Criticism of FDR and Obama Compared

puakev's diary on Daily Kos:

On this site over the past year and a half, a split has arisen between those more inclined to defend the president and those more inclined to criticize the president. Invariably during these skirmishes someone will refer to Franklin Roosevelt and how President Obama measures up.

The president's defenders often wonder whether Roosevelt faced such withering criticism from those presumably on his side, and the president's critics often criticize President Obama for not being more like FDR, who in their eyes is, understandably, the archetype and the standard to which Democratic presidents and politicians are held.

In my examination of the historical record, it is clear that Roosevelt endured vicious, unrelenting attacks from his left that often exceeded the level of vitriol directed at President Obama, and correspondingly, Roosevelt was not viewed by liberals of his day with the adulation and reverence liberals view him today. MORE... H/t to Booman.

"What can Obama learn from FDR?" (video)

MSNBC, video (03:54).

Howie P.S.: Richard Stengel of TIME magazine describes their "history issue" this week that looks at Obama through the "template" of FDR. You have to endure some Morning Joe vanity and self-promotion and overlook the announcement that TIME is "honoring" Joe at a dinner tonight to celebrate the publication of his new book. That's asking alot, I know.