I was actually surprised awhile ago when I found out how activist Hoover was (which, as you pointed out, FDR built upon). I rather wish Calvin Coolidge had run again in ‘28. He was the last great Conservative President we had (as good as Reagan was, he was never able to shrink the fed gov’t as it badly needed to be) and he’d have never embarked on an activist course. And as I said, we’ve never recovered from this big government obsession. We’d not have a fraction of the problems today had we just left things alone at the time. It’s funny when we all say today we don’t want a Socialist government. But we’ve HAD one for close to 80 years.
My sis, the social worker, and a flaming pink lib, often asks me "Why is there so much corruption in the government?"
"What do you think it might be?"
"Money. There's too much money in politics."
"Where is the money coming from?"
"Rich people. And corporations." Note: no mention of liberal pressure groups, like NARAL, Sierra Club, etc.
"Why do you suppose they spend so much money on lobbying and the like?"
"To protect themselves from the people."
"No, darlin'. Not quite. It's to protect themselves from the government!"
"What do you mean?"
"If government has the power to destroy your business, aren't you kind of obligated to protect yourself and your business from the threat?"
"Hmmmmmph!" Never a direct response. "Still, what can be done to reduce all the corruption?"
"Easy. Reduce the size of government. When government ceases to be an existential threat to one's wealth or one's business, it won't be necessary to buy influence. Or pay extortion."
Change of subject...