FDR

It appears that there's some controversy about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal in certain conservative quarters. Amity Shlaes is an "intellectual" pundit who likes to go on TV and tell people that the New Deal didn't solve the great depression. George Will, despite being smacked around by Paul Krugman, gives movement and mainstream authenticity to her claims on Sunday mornings, on George Snuffleupagus's show. We need a simple response to this ludicrous claims that treats them with the seriousness that they deserve.

At the same time, we're actually having trouble figuring out "make work" projects for the new stimulus package. Since federal, state, and local agencies weren't anticipating the need or (political) ability to fund great works, we don't actually have a lot of sensible projects that are ready to go right now. They will come in time, as this recession will take years to work itself out, but we need ideas of things to do now.

Let me make a simple observation to deal with both issues: There's room on Mt. Rushmore for another face.