Have you ever been less inspired by our political leadership? It seems that the only way to sell a stimulus package is to scare the hell out of people, and if that doesn’t work, remind everyone that “it will get worse before it gets better.”
That’s the way to instill confidence!
Consider this economic analysis: “Values have shrunken to fantastic levels, taxes have risen, our ability to pay has fallen, government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income, the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade, the savings of many years of thousands of families are gone.”
Not a bad summation of our troubles. However, it was written in 1933! It is the Inaugural address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His conclusion: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Consider my 21st Century version:
“The only thing we have to fear is not being fearful enough. We should be paralyzed by fear. And if you are not scared now, by the end of this speech I will try to make sure you’ll be terrified.”
Roosevelt did not shrink from the deep troubles of the day. As he put it, “Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.” But his solution was: “Act and act now!”
Our action now is a stimulus package that nobody is sure will work. It is probably the only immediate solution. However, it is not enough. Leadership is also about rallying emotions, so brilliantly done by FDR.
My foremost leading economic advisor, my wife, had an interesting suggestion: Why not encourage shopping? No, this is not some sexist joke. It goes like this:
Offer tax breaks, or stimulus money, to major corporations who agree NOT to lay off any members of their work force, for say, about a year.
Then make like our other President Roosevelt, Teddy, and grab the bully pulpit. Urge Americans to shop like its 1999. Praise the great patriotic corporations who are acting in America’s best interest in its darkest economic hour. Those whose jobs are safe for a while will start spending again. In addition, Americans can be encouraged to give up some of their nameless, unreasoned unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to save the nation!
Okay, that’s one idea. In addition, I am sure there are a thousand reasons why it cannot possibly work. So I would love to hear what your ideas might be. I’ll print them here. We’ve already relied on the best and the brightest economists, and we all know how that worked out! Now it is your turn.
Dick Brennan is Fox 5’s political reporter. Brennan recently covered his third presidential race, including the debates, Iowa, New Hampshire, Super Tuesday, and all the incredible twists and turns over the past two years, culminating in the historic inaugural of Barack Obama. In 2005, he earned an Emmy award for his coverage of the Republican National Convention in New York City. He chronicled the downfall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the rise of David A. Paterson and Kirsten Gillibrand. Brennan covered the war in Iraq; reported from the West Bank on the funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and he spent months at Ground Zero after September 11, 2001.
Dick Brennan can be reached at: Dbfox5news@aol.com
