Jerry Moran: “Today we learned that 46 million Americans are living in poverty. More people are suffering economically than at any…”

“Today we learned that 46 million Americans are living in poverty. More people are suffering economically than at any time since the Great Depression. But we learned from an excellent article by Scott Lilly of the Center for American Progress that history may be repeating itself. In 1937, conservative Republicans succeeded in virtually eliminating the Federal jobs programs of the New Deal, so as to eliminate the Federal deficit. But the results were catastrophic to America's economy and society. Half of the 8 million jobs that had been created by the New Deal were lost, and unemployment went over 19 percent. Economists generally classified the economic reversal in 1937 and 1938 as a second depression. Not until military spending began to revive activity in 1940 did unemployment again drop to less than 15 percent. That was a long and painful experience. It would be tragic if we permitted the new conservative crowd in Washington to repeat it by killing President Obama's jobs act and sending us back into a double- dip recession. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. ____________________”