Government Jobs and Programs Were Really Good When Government Ran Them

Most people were suckered into borrowing more than they could repay and yet, many in Congress would bail out the lenders and not the borrowers. It seems that now is the time to replace and enforce the regulations of private sector investors, bankers and loan sharks which were established under the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I lived through that time and it was good.

For approximately four decades that followed Roosevelts innitiatives, thousands, even millions worked for the government of the United States. Jobs were made available through different agencies and programs until most came under the Civil Service Administration. The anti government activists eliminated all that and the work was awarded in lucrative contracts given to huge contractors. People were hired to work for the contractors (for less pay and few if any benefits). The private sector contractors were paid by the government. Thousands worked for the Veterans Administration, the Post Office Department, the Department of Agriculture and elsewhere before privatization. They were paid well, received good insurance coverage and retirement and other benefits. The jobs required skills ranging from basic manual labor to high level administration and there were ample opportunities to advance upward. This was not socialism and it was really great. Bank regulators actually paid visits to banks and closely examined their status. Lending practices were monitored and people working in banks, even tiny rural banks, were usually from the community and everyone knew them. Anyone older than sixty five can remember those days and I do not know how they can believe the anti-government rhetoric of today, but some do, so it seems. I can guarantee that government programs back then could be trusted even more than the private sector. And now, the private sector has had eight years of absolute freedom to establish monopolies and trusts, tax loopholes and lack of limitations that would protect the consumer. When gigantic corporations and financial institutions consolidate to form monopolies, they not only take control of the economy, they, because of their sheer size and magnitude, pull hundreds of thousands down with them when they fail. Government controls are absolutely necessary and government jobs (when not outsourced to contractors) work well and put many local people to work earning living wages and accruing benefits. Is that asking too much of a nation which is for the people?