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The '''New Deal''' was the name coined by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], for otherwise disjointed programs he conducted throughout the [[Great Depression]], especially from 1933-36. His program had three aspects: Relief, Recovery and Reform. It sought to provide immediate Relief for the millions of unemployed in the [[Great Depression]]. It was intended to promote Recovery of the economy to normal standards--a goal he did not fully achieve. It involved a series of Reforms, especially in the financial system and labor relations. The basic issue was how to deal with the severely damaged economy --and great social misery--caused by three years of the [[Great Depression]].  Conservatives endorsed parts of the '''First New Deal''' (the 1933 programs)  and rejected the more radical '''Second New Deal''' (the 1934-35 programs).   

The '''New Deal''' was the name coined by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], for otherwise disjointed programs he conducted throughout the [[Great Depression]], especially from 1933-36. His program had three aspects: Relief, Recovery and Reform. It sought to provide immediate Relief for the millions of unemployed in the [[Great Depression]]. It was intended to promote Recovery of the economy to normal standards--a goal he did not fully achieve. It involved a series of Reforms, especially in the financial system and labor relations. The basic issue was how to deal with the severely damaged economy --and great social misery--caused by three years of the [[Great Depression]].  Conservatives endorsed parts of the '''First New Deal''' (the 1933 programs)  and rejected the more radical '''Second New Deal''' (the 1934-35 programs).   

 

The New Deal was popular among voters leading to the formation of the [[New Deal Coalition]], which made the Democrats the majority party during the [[Fifth Party System]] into the 1960s. However a [[Conservative Coalition]] took control of Congress in 1937 and  blocked nearly all additional programs; during the war years (1941-45) the conservatives successfully rolled back many of the relief efforts on the grounds they were no longer needed since full employment was achieved.  The "reforms" that regulated the economy were mostly dropped in the deregulation era (1974-87), except for oversight of Wall Street buy the [[SEC]], which conservatives approved because it increased investor confidence.   

The New Deal was popular among voters leading to the formation of the [[New Deal Coalition]], which made the Democrats the majority party during the [[Fifth Party System]] into the 1960s. However a [[Conservative Coalition]] took control of Congress in 1937 and  blocked nearly all additional programs; during the war years (1941-45) the conservatives successfully rolled back many of the relief efforts on the grounds they were no longer needed since full employment was achieved.  The "reforms" that regulated the economy were mostly dropped in the deregulation era (1974-87), except for oversight of Wall Street buy the [[SEC]], which conservatives approved because it increased investor confidence.   

==Economic planning==

==Economic planning==

As the Depression set in, terms like “[[planned economy]]” and “national planning” became the watchwords of the day. <ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1468 ''FDR: The Man, the Leader, the Legacy''], Ralph Raico, Future of Freedom Foundation, April 1, 2001. Retreived from The Independent Institute.org 06/17/07.</ref> They had been used by theoriticians for years and popularized by best-selling writers like George Soule and Stuart Chase, who lauded the Soviet Gosplan (central planning), asking plaintively, “Why should the Russians have all the fun of remaking a world?” One prominent [[Brain Trust]]ers was [[Rexford Guy Tugwell]]. Tugwell was a follower of the school of thought known as "Institutional Economics". His official position was assistant secretary of agriculture, that is, second in command to [[Henry A. Wallace]], but his influence extended far beyond that. Tugwell had traveled to the Soviet Union in 1927 and observed through scientific economic planning the Soviets were able to “carry out their industrial operations with a completely thought-out program.” “The future,” he announced, “is becoming visible in Russia.”  Tugwell scorned the [[free market]] as anarchical, an uncoordinated muddle of hopelessly conflicting aims and purposes. It would have to be replaced by national planning, or technocracy, another shibboleth of the day, implying rule by the technical experts and managers, <ref>James Burnham, ''The Managerial Revolution'', (1966).</ref> like himself.

As the Depression set in, terms like “[[planned economy]]” and “national planning” became the watchwords of the day. <ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1468 ''FDR: The Man, the Leader, the Legacy''], Ralph Raico, Future of Freedom Foundation, April 1, 2001. Retrieved from The Independent Institute.org 06/17/07.</ref> They had been used by theoriticians for years and popularized by best-selling writers like George Soule and Stuart Chase, who lauded the Soviet Gosplan (central planning), asking plaintively, “Why should the Russians have all the fun of remaking a world?” One prominent [[Brain Trust]]ers was [[Rexford Guy Tugwell]]. Tugwell was a follower of the school of thought known as "Institutional Economics". His official position was assistant secretary of agriculture, that is, second in command to [[Henry A. Wallace]], but his influence extended far beyond that. Tugwell had traveled to the Soviet Union in 1927 and observed through scientific economic planning the Soviets were able to “carry out their industrial operations with a completely thought-out program.” “The future,” he announced, “is becoming visible in Russia.”  Tugwell scorned the [[free market]] as anarchical, an uncoordinated muddle of hopelessly conflicting aims and purposes. It would have to be replaced by national planning, or technocracy, another shibboleth of the day, implying rule by the technical experts and managers, <ref>James Burnham, ''The Managerial Revolution'', (1966).</ref> like himself.

   

   

   

   

The economy hit rock bottom in March 1933 and now it started to expand.  As historian Broadus Mitchell notes, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically."<ref>Mitchell p 404.</ref> Economic indicators show the economy reached nadir in the first days of March, then began a steady, sharp upward recovery. Thus the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production hit its lowest point of 52.8 in July 1932 (with 1935-39 = 100) and was practically unchanged at 54.3 in March 1933; however by July 1933, it reached 85.5, a dramatic rebound of 57% in four months. Growth was steady and strong until 1937 but job creation continued to lag. By 1941personal consumption expenditures - despite population increase - were virtually unchanged since 1929, reflecting a general impoverishment of the nation.<ref>Personal consumption expenditures in the aggregate for 1929 were 77.2 billion, 45.8 billion in 1933, and 80.6 billion in 1941.  Measured in constant 1958 dollars. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, ''Federal Reserve Bulletin'',  June 1973, p. A68.</ref>

The economy hit rock bottom in March 1933 and now it started to expand.  As historian Broadus Mitchell notes, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically."<ref>Mitchell p 404.</ref> Economic indicators show the economy reached nadir in the first days of March, then began a steady, sharp upward recovery. Thus the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production hit its lowest point of 52.8 in July 1932 (with 1935-39 = 100) and was practically unchanged at 54.3 in March 1933; however by July 1933, it reached 85.5, a dramatic rebound of 57% in four months. Growth was steady and strong until 1937 but job creation continued to lag. By 1941, personal consumption expenditures - despite population increase - were virtually unchanged since 1929, reflecting a general impoverishment of the nation.<ref>Personal consumption expenditures in the aggregate for 1929 were 77.2 billion, 45.8 billion in 1933, and 80.6 billion in 1941.  Measured in constant 1958 dollars. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, ''Federal Reserve Bulletin'',  June 1973, p. A68.</ref>

   

   

   

   

In the very long run, the most important program of 1935, and perhaps the New Deal as a whole, was the [[Social Security Act]], which established a system of retirement pensions for people in the industrial sector (not including farmers or household workers) and unemployment insurance, as well as welfare benefits for poor families and the handicapped. It established the framework for the U.S. welfare system. Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll taxes rather than from the general fund; he said, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."  With the [[Unified budget Act]] <-source-> the Social Security Trust Fund was used to fiance the Vietnam War and Great Society programs.  The original payroll witholding was 1% of the workers gross income, with Roosevelt pledging it would never exceed 3%. Today it 6.2% and 12.4% for self-employed workers - one sixth of a workers lifetime earnings when Medicare is factored in.  The withholding is on the first dollar of income with no deductions or exemptions allowed to offset contributions, and a worker was no claim or control over the assets in his account.  If a worker dies before retirement, his estate has no claim on his lifetime contributions.   

In the very long run, the most important program of 1935, and perhaps the New Deal as a whole, was the [[Social Security Act]], which established a system of retirement pensions for people in the industrial sector (not including farmers or household workers) and unemployment insurance, as well as welfare benefits for poor families and the handicapped. It established the framework for the U.S. welfare system. Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll taxes rather than from the general fund; he said, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."  With the [[Unified budget Act]] <!-- source --> the Social Security Trust Fund was used to finance the Vietnam War and Great Society programs.  The original payroll withholding was 1% of the workers gross income, with Roosevelt pledging it would never exceed 3%. Today it 6.2% and 12.4% for self-employed workers - one sixth of a workers lifetime earnings when Medicare is factored in.  The withholding is on the first dollar of income with no deductions or exemptions allowed to offset contributions, and a worker was no claim or control over the assets in his account.  If a worker dies before retirement, his estate has no claim on his lifetime contributions.   

   

   

Social Security remains by far the single largest program driving the growth of [[National Debt]]; since it is value of [[labor]] that is withheld, the more people [[emjployment|employed]], the higher wages are paid. the more hours worked including overtime, all is added to the national debt as a promise by the federal government repay at some future date.  And given that it is labor driving the creation of federal debt, the national debt cannot be paid down by labor.  This is refered to as the "structrual flaw" in the original Social Securioty Act.  Further, FDR's assertion that "no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program" would not withstand a Constitutional challenge.  In American people are born free, and no politician can the pledge that some future Congress elected by free citizens can refuse to honor the promises to pay seniors given that benefits are paid out from current workers earnings on a "pay as you go" basis, and are not held in a trust fund.  

Social Security remains by far the single largest program driving the growth of [[National Debt]]; since it is value of [[labor]] that is withheld, the more people [[employment|employed]], the higher wages are paid. the more hours worked including overtime, all is added to the national debt as a promise by the federal government repay at some future date.  And given that it is labor driving the creation of federal debt, the national debt cannot be paid down by labor.  This is referred to as the "structural flaw" in the original Social Security Act.  Further, FDR's assertion that "no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program" would not withstand a Constitutional challenge.  In American people are born free, and no politician can the pledge that some future Congress elected by free citizens can refuse to honor the promises to pay seniors given that benefits are paid out from current workers earnings on a "pay as you go" basis, and are not held in a trust fund.  

   

   

One of the last New Deal agencies was the [[United States Housing Authority]], created in 1937 with some Republican support to abolish slums.

One of the last New Deal agencies was the [[United States Housing Authority]], created in 1937 with some Republican support to abolish slums.

==Government Role: balance labor, business and farming==

==Government Role: balance labor, business and farming==

New Deal saw the government as an umpire or balancing force among business, labor and farming, with consumers perhaps having a role too.  This approach became known as "interest group pluralism", and emphasized the role of leaders bargaining with each other and with government agencies.  Congress played less of a role in NEw Deal thought (to the annoyance of many Congressmen.)  

New Deal saw the government as an umpire or balancing force among business, labor and farming, with consumers perhaps having a role too.  This approach became known as "interest group pluralism", and emphasized the role of leaders bargaining with each other and with government agencies.  Congress played less of a role in New Deal thought (to the annoyance of many Congressmen.)  

By the end of the 1930s, business found itself competing for influence with an increasingly powerful labor movement, one that was engaged in mass mobilization and sometimes militant action; with an organized agricultural economy, and occasionally with aroused consumers. The New Deal accomplished this by creating a series of state institutions that greatly, and permanently, expanded the role of the federal government in American life. The government was now committed to providing at least minimal assistance to the poor and unemployed; to protecting the rights of labor unions; to stabilizing the banking system; to building low-income housing; to regulating financial markets; to subsidizing agricultural production; and to doing many other things that had not previously been federal responsibilities.

By the end of the 1930s, business found itself competing for influence with an increasingly powerful labor movement, one that was engaged in mass mobilization and sometimes militant action; with an organized agricultural economy, and occasionally with aroused consumers. The New Deal accomplished this by creating a series of state institutions that greatly, and permanently, expanded the role of the federal government in American life. The government was now committed to providing at least minimal assistance to the poor and unemployed; to protecting the rights of labor unions; to stabilizing the banking system; to building low-income housing; to regulating financial markets; to subsidizing agricultural production; and to doing many other things that had not previously been federal responsibilities.

Thus, it did not transform American capitalism in any genuinely radical way. Except in the field of labor relations, corporate power remained nearly as free from government regulation in 1939 as it had been in 1933, but that changed dramatically during the war, as Washington took control over wage rates, prices, and allocation of raw materials, and sent military officers into munitions plants. All the relief programs were closed down during the war, but one major program survived--Social Security--to become the liberal hallmark of the New Deal into the 21st century.

Thus, it did not transform American capitalism in any genuinely radical way. Except in the field of labor relations, corporate power remained nearly as free from government regulation in 1939 as it had been in 1933, but that changed dramatically during the war, as Washington took control over wage rates, prices, and allocation of raw materials, and sent military officers into munitions plants. All the relief programs were closed down during the war, but one major program survived--Social Security--to become the liberal hallmark of the New Deal into the 21st century.

==Stagnation of the economy: Negative supply side==

==Stagnation of the economy: Negative supply side==

Supply side economics<ref>The term was invented in the 1970s.</ref> can have a goal of expanding the supply of labor and capital, as typified the [[Ronald Reagan]] administration in the 1980s. But it can also be the reverse or "negative supply side,"  trying to reduce the unemployed, for example, by moving millions of people out of the labor force, as by relief agencies (CCC, WPA etc), retirement (Social Security, Old Age pensions) or (staring in 1940) the military draft.  

Supply side economics<ref>The term was invented in the 1970s.</ref> can have a goal of expanding the supply of labor and capital, as typified the [[Ronald Reagan]] administration in the 1980s. But it can also be the reverse or "negative supply side,"  trying to reduce the unemployed, for example, by moving millions of people out of the labor force, as by relief agencies (CCC, WPA etc), retirement (Social Security, Old Age pensions) or (staring in 1940) the military draft.\

===Practice===

===Practice===

Senator Hugo Black's 30-hour bill, a favorite panacea of the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL), did not pass, but its substitute, the [[National Industrial Recovery Act]] (NIRA), sought recovery through minimum wages and the reduction of hours. The NRA did reduce the total number of hours worked in the nation, and thus reduced the total GNP and average real income. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) kept several hundred thousand young men at a time off the labor market. Child labor codes in the NRA effectively removed youths under sixteen from the labor market, and home work was drastically curtailed. Public opinion strongly supported federal and state efforts, echoed by many local governments, school boards, utilities, and other large employers, to prevent wives from working if the husband (the "breadwinner") had a job. Alien Mexican families were given one-way rail tickets back home. The Social Security program did not have much effect on older people until the 1950s, but meanwhile railroad retirement and old age assistance for the poor who stopped looking for jobs reduced the supply of labor.  As late as 1937, Roosevelt's aides were drafting laws to shorten the work week to thirty-five hours, require premium pay for overtime, and fix the minimum hourly wage at 80 cents (far above the prevailing 63-cent rate). They failed, and the much watered down Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a 25-cent-per-hour minimum wage which covered 43 percent of the nation's wage earners. The final, and successful supply-side remedy was the draft, and after 1940 the increase in military personnel paralleled the reduction of unemployment.  

Senator Hugo Black's 30-hour bill, a favorite panacea of the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL), did not pass, but its substitute, the [[National Industrial Recovery Act]] (NIRA), sought recovery through minimum wages and the reduction of hours. The NRA did reduce the total number of hours worked in the nation, and thus reduced the total GNP and average real income. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) kept several hundred thousand young men at a time off the labor market. Child labor codes in the NRA effectively removed youths under sixteen from the labor market, and home work was drastically curtailed. Public opinion strongly supported federal and state efforts, echoed by many local governments, school boards, utilities, and other large employers, to prevent wives from working if the husband (the "breadwinner") had a job. Alien Mexican families were given one-way rail tickets back home. The Social Security program did not have much effect on older people until the 1950s, but meanwhile railroad retirement and old age assistance for the poor who stopped looking for jobs reduced the supply of labor.  As late as 1937, Roosevelt's aides were drafting laws to shorten the work week to thirty-five hours, require premium pay for overtime, and fix the minimum hourly wage at 80 cents (far above the prevailing 63-cent rate). They failed, and the much watered down Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a 25-cent-per-hour minimum wage which covered 43 percent of the nation's wage earners. The final, and successful supply-side remedy was the draft, and after 1940 the increase in military personnel paralleled the reduction of unemployment.  

[[File:Debt29-50.jpg|thumb|400px|left|National Debt as a percentage of GNP climbs from 20% to 40% as Hoover begins relief efforts with the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]] and levels off during the New Deal; soars during WW2  from ''Historical Statistics US'' (1976)]]

[[File:Debt29-50.jpg|thumb|400px|left|National Debt as a percentage of GNP climbs from 20% to 40% as Hoover begins relief efforts with the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]] and levels off during the New Deal; soars during WW2  from ''Historical Statistics US'' (1976)]]

Morgenthau shifted with FDR, but at all times tried to inject fiscal responsibility; he deeply believed in balanced budgets, stable currency, reduction of the national debt, and the need for more private investment .  The Wagner Act met Morgenthau’s requirement because it strengthened the party’s political base and involved no new spending.  In contrast to Douglas, Morgenthau accepted Roosevelt’s  double budget as legitimate–that is a balanced regular budget, and an “emergency” budget for agencies, like the WPA, PWA and CCC, that would be temporary until full recovery was at hand.  He fought against the veterans’ bonus until Congress finally overrode Roosevelt’s veto and gave out $2.2 billion in 1936.   His biggest success was the new Social Security program; he managed to reverse the proposals to fund it from general revenue and insisted it be funded by new taxes on employees.  It was Morgenthau who insisted on excluding farm workers and domestic servants from Social Security because workers outside industry would not be paying their way.<ref>Zelizer 2000; Savage 1998</ref>

Morgenthau shifted with FDR, but at all times tried to inject fiscal responsibility; he deeply believed in balanced budgets, stable currency, reduction of the national debt, and the need for more private investment .  The Wagner Act met Morgenthau’s requirement because it strengthened the party’s political base and involved no new spending.  In contrast to Douglas, Morgenthau accepted Roosevelt’s  double budget as legitimate–that is a balanced regular budget, and an “emergency” budget for agencies, like the WPA, PWA and CCC, that would be temporary until full recovery was at hand.  He fought against the veterans’ bonus until Congress finally overrode Roosevelt’s veto and gave out $2.2 billion in 1936. His biggest success was the new Social Security program; he managed to reverse the proposals to fund it from general revenue and insisted it be funded by new taxes on employees.  It was Morgenthau who insisted on excluding farm workers and domestic servants from Social Security because workers outside industry would not be paying their way.<ref>Zelizer 2000; Savage 1998</ref>

   

   

Deficits held relatively constant throught the 1930s at about 40% of the GDP.<ref>Economists at the time used GNP (gross national product) and today they prefer GDP (gross domestic product). For the US, GNP and GDP are almost the same.</ref>

Deficits held relatively constant throughout the 1930s at about 40% of the GDP.<ref>Economists at the time used GNP (gross national product) and today they prefer GDP (gross domestic product). For the US, GNP and GDP are almost the same.</ref>

   

   

In 1933 Italian Premier [[Benito Mussolini]] was a towering figure. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774563-4,00.html Axis (1936-1943)], ''[[TIME magazine]]'', Sep. 20, 1943,</ref>  President of Columbia University and [[Nobel Prize for Peace]], said of [[fascism]], it is as a “form of government of the very first order of excellence”; and found it “safe to predict that just as [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]] made modern England, so Mussolini would make modern Italy.” <ref>[http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/wright/1943/10/italy.htm What To Do With Italy?], John G. Wright, From Fourth International, Vol.4 No.10, October 1943, pp.308-311.</ref>  Chariman [[Sol Bloom]] of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U. S. House of Representives, suggested Mussolini was a great man and had something the [[United States]] government might well look to for imitation. <ref>John T. Flynn, ''As We Go Marching'', Doubleday, 1944, p. 70.</ref> What they liked particularly was his [[corporative]] system. Mussolini organized each trade or industrial group or professional group into a state supervised trade association. Mussolini called it a corporative. <ref>[http://www.cmre.org/GeneSmileypresentation.pdf The New Deal and Corporatism], Prof. Emeritus Gene Smiley, Marquette University, Presented at the Committee for Monetary Research and Education,October 19, 2006,</ref>  These corporatives operated under state supervision and provided economic planning of production, quality, prices, distribution, labor standards, etc.  The National Recovery Act, or NRA as it came to be called, provided that a corporative system in America for each industry should be organized into a federally supervised trade association. It was not called a corporative. It was called a [[Code Authority]]. In [[Nazi]] Germany such government run planning authorities built on the Italian model were called [[industrial cartel]]s. This was the same as fascism. <ref>[http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/book/hbzfrm.htm ''The Roosevelt Myth''], John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, Book 1, Ch. 5.</ref>  These code authorities could regulate production, quantities, qualities, prices, distribution methods, etc., under the supervision of the NRA that had the effect of ending the downward spiral of deflation and falling prices, but which risked the long-term effect of stifling innovation and favoring big business over small.  Anti­-trust laws forbade such organizations. Roosevelt had denounced Hoover for not enforcing these laws sufficiently. Now Roosevelt suspended the anti-trust laws and compelled men to combine.  

In 1933 Italian Premier [[Benito Mussolini]] was a towering figure. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774563-4,00.html Axis (1936-1943)], ''[[TIME magazine]]'', Sep. 20, 1943,</ref>  President of Columbia University and [[Nobel Prize for Peace]], said of [[fascism]], it is as a “form of government of the very first order of excellence”; and found it “safe to predict that just as [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]] made modern England, so Mussolini would make modern Italy.” <ref>[http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/wright/1943/10/italy.htm What To Do With Italy?], John G. Wright, From Fourth International, Vol.4 No.10, October 1943, pp.308-311.</ref>  Chariman [[Sol Bloom]] of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U. S. House of Representatives, suggested Mussolini was a great man and had something the [[United States]] government might well look to for imitation. <ref>John T. Flynn, ''As We Go Marching'', Doubleday, 1944, p. 70.</ref> What they liked particularly was his [[corporative]] system. Mussolini organized each trade or industrial group or professional group into a state supervised trade association. Mussolini called it a corporative. <ref>[http://www.cmre.org/GeneSmileypresentation.pdf The New Deal and Corporatism], Prof. Emeritus Gene Smiley, Marquette University, Presented at the Committee for Monetary Research and Education,October 19, 2006,</ref>  These corporatives operated under state supervision and provided economic planning of production, quality, prices, distribution, labor standards, etc.  The National Recovery Act, or NRA as it came to be called, provided that a corporative system in America for each industry should be organized into a federally supervised trade association. It was not called a corporative. It was called a [[Code Authority]]. In [[Nazi]] Germany such government run planning authorities built on the Italian model were called [[industrial cartel]]s. This was the same as fascism. <ref>[http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/book/hbzfrm.htm ''The Roosevelt Myth''], John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, Book 1, Ch. 5.</ref>  These code authorities could regulate production, quantities, qualities, prices, distribution methods, etc., under the supervision of the NRA that had the effect of ending the downward spiral of deflation and falling prices, but which risked the long-term effect of stifling innovation and favoring big business over small.  Anti­-trust laws forbade such organizations. Roosevelt had denounced Hoover for not enforcing these laws sufficiently. Now Roosevelt suspended the anti-trust laws and compelled men to combine.  

      

      

The NRA Act provided an appropriation of $3,300,000,000 which the President was given to be spent at his own discretion. He had a sum of money equal to what the government spent in the prvious ten years outside of discretionary spending. Roosevelt decided how it should be spent and where. If a congressman or senator needed an appropriation for his district, instead of introducing a bill in Congress, he went to Roosevelt to ask for it. All over the country, states, cities, counties, business organizations, institutions of all sorts wanted projects of all kinds. Instead of going to Congress they went to the President.  

The NRA Act provided an appropriation of $3,300,000,000 which the President was given to be spent at his own discretion. He had a sum of money equal to what the government spent in the previous ten years outside of discretionary spending. Roosevelt decided how it should be spent and where. If a congressman or senator needed an appropriation for his district, instead of introducing a bill in Congress, he went to Roosevelt to ask for it. All over the country, states, cities, counties, business organizations, institutions of all sorts wanted projects of all kinds. Instead of going to Congress they went to the President.