This blog will change from our English class working in groups on one topic to branching out by ourselves on a new topic. The topic I will now be looking at is the life of John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy primarily before he became the President of the United States. I have always had an interest in JFK probable because he raises an interesting historical question how different would things have been if he had lived and served his two terms. Also the ordinary person knows only about three things about John F. Kennedy that he had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, that he was assonated in Dallas, and that he was the thirty fifth president of the United States, but he did so much more than that and no one thinks about how his family's environment shaped him into a future president.
I think it will be hard to find information about his younger years but I hope that I can discover more about the man who became the President of the United States. So together we can go searching for answers to questions like why did he become president, did his father play a role in him becoming one, what was his family like, did he go to World War II to impress his father, and did his playing sports and being competitive drive help to become a war hero and President. I hope to learn more about one of my favorite presidents and the path that led him to being the thirty fifth President of the United States.
Working Biblography
1. Cox, Vicki. John F. Kennedy. Chicago: McGraw Hill, 2006. Print.
2. Leaming, Barbara. Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman. New York: Norton, 2006. Print.
3. Rachlin, Harvey. The Kennedys: a chronological history, 1823-present. New York: World Almanac, 1986. Print.
4. Collier, Peter. The Kennedys: An American Drama. New York: Summit Books, 1984. Print.
5. Moody, Sidney C. Jr. Triumph and Tragedy; the Story of the Kennedys. New York: Morrow, 1968. Print.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Economic debates 1932-2010
In this post I will be looking at two blogs that discuss the two arguments on how to fix a sick market. I will give examples of how the debate on to fix the economy in election of 1932 is still going on in 2010. It is sad to think that the biggest change between 1932 and today is who the people debating are because nothing has changed in the debate. The worst thing is that results from both should have killed this argument back then because one only hurt the economy.
The first blog post that I looked at was the Becker-Posner blog which in 2009 went over the Obama Stimulus Plan. The blog seems to be a blog that discusses the big news at time. The blog opens with argument about why a stimulus is bad for a health marker because it creates too many jobs that over crowds the markets. In the blog Becker argues that he thinks that projected numbers for stimulus are a little excessive, but then says that those numbers could be exactly right. This blog helped me to understand one argument to help a sick market and that is government aid in form of stimulus package like the New Deal. The point to the stimulus package is to help the market by creating jobs which puts money back into the market. This way saw some success under FDR but it was a slow improvement. One argument can be made against a stimulus is that comes in at time when people are panicking and the stimulus gets rushed through and is not as effective as could be if they took time to work on it and make sure it was as effective as possible. Another thing that hurts a stimulus is that politician want to be reelected and what better way than to bring something back home so they add pork belly which usual does something that complete wastes the money like a Bridge to Nowhere that could go to creating jobs. One recent occurrence of this was a Republican from Nebraska basically sold his vote on health care for benefits to Nebraska that could help get him reelected.
The other blog is by Michael Johns who is one of the founders of the Tea Party Movement. Johns talks about the Tea Party Movement which is a movement that has no goals and no direction other than small government should not interfere with the economy. So they provide no answer in how to fix the market just let be. In the blog Johns as founder of group argues that lack of direction is just a slight growing pain for this group. This blog is a lot of empty rhetoric that has no evidence and backed solely by Johns resume at the bottom of the blog. Johns now works as a health care executive, he was former White House official and he also was the speech writer for George H. W. Bush.
In the election of 1932, President Hoover made argument that the way to fix the market was to leave it alone which had worked so well the last three years of his term that unemployment increased by about twenty four percent. This argument is basically the same as trying to treat sinking boat with hole in it like it was boat that had no hole in it. This is one reason that all people who got stuck in Hoovervilles were so angry Hoover he offered no help.
To be honest both of these arguments are flawed but one has never shown any way of helping a sick market. The government staying out business is what actually led to economic recession and the Great Depression. In all three cases there was president in office at time of and term before the economic problems started supported the small government and staying ou business motto. Also if someone searched the five worse yearly deficits up 2007 two of three president have all five. Bush junior has the four worst years of all time and those four years where in a row so if people wonder why the market is the way it is now this was definitely a factor. The fifth worst year happened under Bush senior around same time as economic recession of the early 1990s.
Work Citied
1. Chambers, Clarke. The New Deal at Home and Abroad, 1929-1945.New York: The Free Press. 1967. Print.
2. Becker, Gary and Posner, Richard. “On the Obama Stimulus Plan-Becker.” Weblog Entry. The Becker-PosnerBlog. 11 January 2009. Web. 18 February 2010.
3. Johns, Michael. “Tea Party Potential, Tea Party Challenges.” Weblog Entry. Michael Johns. 28 January 2010. Web. 18 February 2010
The first blog post that I looked at was the Becker-Posner blog which in 2009 went over the Obama Stimulus Plan. The blog seems to be a blog that discusses the big news at time. The blog opens with argument about why a stimulus is bad for a health marker because it creates too many jobs that over crowds the markets. In the blog Becker argues that he thinks that projected numbers for stimulus are a little excessive, but then says that those numbers could be exactly right. This blog helped me to understand one argument to help a sick market and that is government aid in form of stimulus package like the New Deal. The point to the stimulus package is to help the market by creating jobs which puts money back into the market. This way saw some success under FDR but it was a slow improvement. One argument can be made against a stimulus is that comes in at time when people are panicking and the stimulus gets rushed through and is not as effective as could be if they took time to work on it and make sure it was as effective as possible. Another thing that hurts a stimulus is that politician want to be reelected and what better way than to bring something back home so they add pork belly which usual does something that complete wastes the money like a Bridge to Nowhere that could go to creating jobs. One recent occurrence of this was a Republican from Nebraska basically sold his vote on health care for benefits to Nebraska that could help get him reelected.
The other blog is by Michael Johns who is one of the founders of the Tea Party Movement. Johns talks about the Tea Party Movement which is a movement that has no goals and no direction other than small government should not interfere with the economy. So they provide no answer in how to fix the market just let be. In the blog Johns as founder of group argues that lack of direction is just a slight growing pain for this group. This blog is a lot of empty rhetoric that has no evidence and backed solely by Johns resume at the bottom of the blog. Johns now works as a health care executive, he was former White House official and he also was the speech writer for George H. W. Bush.
In the election of 1932, President Hoover made argument that the way to fix the market was to leave it alone which had worked so well the last three years of his term that unemployment increased by about twenty four percent. This argument is basically the same as trying to treat sinking boat with hole in it like it was boat that had no hole in it. This is one reason that all people who got stuck in Hoovervilles were so angry Hoover he offered no help.
To be honest both of these arguments are flawed but one has never shown any way of helping a sick market. The government staying out business is what actually led to economic recession and the Great Depression. In all three cases there was president in office at time of and term before the economic problems started supported the small government and staying ou business motto. Also if someone searched the five worse yearly deficits up 2007 two of three president have all five. Bush junior has the four worst years of all time and those four years where in a row so if people wonder why the market is the way it is now this was definitely a factor. The fifth worst year happened under Bush senior around same time as economic recession of the early 1990s.
Work Citied
1. Chambers, Clarke. The New Deal at Home and Abroad, 1929-1945.New York: The Free Press. 1967. Print.
2. Becker, Gary and Posner, Richard. “On the Obama Stimulus Plan-Becker.” Weblog Entry. The Becker-PosnerBlog. 11 January 2009. Web. 18 February 2010.
3. Johns, Michael. “Tea Party Potential, Tea Party Challenges.” Weblog Entry. Michael Johns. 28 January 2010. Web. 18 February 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Hooverville in Central Park
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This picture shows the complete isolation of these communities from the rest of society and challenges that these homeless people who lived in Hoovervilles faced. This particular Hooverville is located in Central Park but it is not the only one. In New York City alone there were at least three other Hoovervilles . This picture puts the challenge that Franklin D. Roosevelt faced in whole new perspective. The picture also shows the serious the need for a champion of the common man and that was a role that FDR was very good at during his presidency.
In the picture there are about eight shacks in each of these there could be up to twelve people living in each one. There are also two young boys talking to each other. Then the flag of the United States that even in these hard times they have flying. There are also two adults looking up at the flag as if wishing for something good to happen for this country. To me it looks like the one in black coat facing the flag with his back to us as his hand over his heart in a salute. This picture was taken in 1931 and the depression would only get worse in the next year. According to Warren with the economy only getting worse leading up to the Presidential Election of 1932 a man offered to show both candidates the places like Hooverville and other slums. He thought by seeing these places they would realize the full seriousness of the economic situation (238). I think it says something about how bad the Hoovervilles were when someone thought that seeing them summed up the problems with the United States.
In New York City alone there were tens of thousands of people who were forced to live on the streets. Most of these people formed communities that they called Hoovervilles after the president at the time Herbert Hoover. One of the largest of these communities was located in Central Park. Strangely it was a big tourist attraction because of the performances put on by the people of Hooverville. Some of these people were former circus acts, musicians, or other artists (Batcher 723).
Batcher reports that in the year of this photo 1931 there were almost two hundred thousand people who were kicked out of their apartment because they could not pay rent. Some people to prevent eviction had to sell their valuables so they could pay rent. Others would move apartment to apartment and just leave before they had to pay. Some that lost their homes had to leave there furniture because they could no longer pay the interest form when they bought on credit. In Philadelphia there were about thirteen hundred evictions per month the years after the crash. To top it off the stress and anxiety levels of Americans were very high at this time.
Batcher believes that many of the businesses after the collapse made huge cuts, and consumers stopped buying anything that was not absolutely necessary. Businesses cut millions of jobs to try and run at the bare minimum (722). This is ironic because what the economy needs to recover is surge of new jobs and money back in not screeching halt to recover. The way to recover in other words is what Franklin D. Roosevelt did with New Deal in trying to bring jobs back to the market
Work Citied
1 ”Hooverville in Central Park.” Hooverville and the Depression: 1930-1932. Web. 27 January 2010
2. Batcher, Bob. “Great Depression in the Northeast.” Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillian, 2004
3. Warren, Harris Gaylord. Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1967. Print.
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