Posted on 10/08/2011 9:20:10 AM PDT by MontaniSemperLiberi
BACK in the late 1990s, William Kristol and David Brooks, then colleagues at the Weekly Standard, fostered a boomlet of a movement called "national greatness conservatism," the central tenet of which seemed to be that the country didn't rise to sufficient grandeur to satisfy their national aspirations. That was the Clinton era, remember, when the Gross Domestic Product was expanding at an average 3.5 percent a year, and unemployment hovered around 4 percent. Federal coffers were overflowing with cash, and the national debt was actually shrinking. The world was relatively stable, America's global position seemed secure, and young U.S. soldiers weren't dying in far-off lands. Americans were generally happy with their lot.
...
JACKSON WAS OF COURSE a Democrat, but the Democratic Party of that era was almost the polar opposite of today's version. The 19th century party emerged from the politics of Thomas Jefferson, who despised the governing Federalists of the early Republic for their elitist tendencies and push for concentrated federal power. Jefferson brought forth new political catch phrases: small government, strict construction of the Constitution, states' rights, reduced taxes, less intrusion into the lives of citizens. His administration, historian Joyce Appleby wrote, would speak for "the rational, selfimproving, independent man who could be counted on to take care of himself and his family if only intrusive institutions were removed."
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
PS - I am really tired of the Hamiltonian Great Nationers.
One thing about Jackson that most don’t know is that he was the only President that totally got rid of the National Debt. Many didn’t like him because he could be ruthless if he didn’t get his way. But.....his way was to make this country strong and independent.
—yeah—ask the Indians about that-—
Then what followed was a pay off by Wall Street to Woodrow Wilson and the creation of the Federal Reserve.
Yeah, he paid off the national debt . . . courtesy of the sound fiscal policies under the 2nd BUS run by Nicholas Biddle, which he then destroyed. No, he did not throw the nation into a panic as some big-government types claim, but his actions were irrelevant either way. The shortage of Mexican silver caused the panic, as has now been proven (I think) beyond a doubt.
Government GREW, in absolute and per-capita terms, under Jackson. He abused power by ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in favor of the Cherokees, and he greatly expanded the "spoils system" set up precisely to get him elected. And, I should add, he was strongly pro-slave.
Yes, indeed ... in pursuing national greatness, its advocates on both left and right have made America unexceptional.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, everybody the world — allies and enemies alike — over knew that America was exceptional. Times have changed.
He only got rid of the national debt because of guys like Hamilton (his sinking fund), Jefferson (who paid off about 1/3) and most of all the “central banker” Nicholas Biddle who gave the U.S. a great economy until the Mexican silver dried up and interest rates rose. Per capita government spending under Jackson rose; federal employment outside the armed forces rose; and propaganda through Jackson’s party organs reached all time highs.
Mark Twain on Teddy Roosevelt:
“I think the President is clearly insane in several ways, and insanest upon war and its supreme glories.”
He would probably say the same about Brooks and Kristol.
This is Bull. Jackson was a populist.
The TP in the mold of Jefferson & Madison.
Yep.....always good and bad in people. Today, we have all bad and Congress sits on their hands instead of standing up to it.
When it comes to dealing with the banks, debt, and fiscal policy, we sure as hell could use another Jackson right now!
In Jackson's day we were still largely a developing agricultural country. Some people saw that condition as Edenic and would have liked to preserve it. Some people today even wish we could return to those days.
But if Jacksonianism had been in the saddle permanently, we might look more like our neighbors to the South: largely rural and agricultural, racially and regionally fragmented, a theater for the machinations of foreign powers.
Jackson was a fearless fighter and had a few good ideas, but generally speaking was a bad person.
At least you admit that central bankers generally have more power over the economy than elected officials, but your understanding about the cause panics is mistaken. Even in Jackson's time, most of the money supply consisted of notes (dollar bills) and ledger entries created by fractional reserved debt. When banks are making many loans, money circulates in abundance and the good times roll. However, at some point the banks stop granting loans. The money dries up and there is literally not enough of the disappearing currency left in circulation to pay off outstanding debt. Losers in this musical chairs game must hand their loan-secured properties over to the banks. The resulting recession or depression lasts until the banks have consolidated their winnings and are ready to turn on the loan spicket again.
Central bankers control the business cycle by timed increase and decreases in the money supply. The timing of central bank-induced boom and bust is kept secret from most people. However, investors with inside knowledge know exactly when to buy low and sell high. These insiders go long and short such that they gradually absorb the wealth of everyone outside the loop. The wealth of those "lost" middle-class 401K's did not disappear. It simply transferred to the insiders. The real estate hoax resulted in similar transfer of wealth to insiders.
Jackson and many of his contemporaries partially understood the sinister nature of central banks. Jackson abolished the Federal Reserve of his time but did not go far enough because he did not seize the power of money-creation. The bankers simply replaced the central bank function with their own private cartel. It is too bad that Jackson did not follow the example of Ben Franklin and the colonial Pennsylvanians of using state-issued money to displace the central bank.
Andrew Jackson was a murderous lout. A bigot, a paranoid meglomaniac and an anti-constitutional tyrant!
..the Tea Party would never support the Trail of Tears...
Sorry, but Peter Temin has proven definitively that the drying up of the Mexican silver supply shot around the world and caused Britain to raise interest rates, thus triggering the recession. His scholarship has stood now since 1969-—actually pretty impressive give how often people’s theories are proven wrong.
Oh and by the way, the myth that Jackson “abolished” the central bank of his time is just silly. I found in his manuscripts a document where he ordered Levi Woodbury to create JUST SUCH A BANK, except it was to be under Dem control, not the control of his political appointees. The economy collapsed before Woodbury could do so. Jackson was no champion of the common man but a Dem pol, no different than Jesse Jackson.
Recent presidents have done to all Americans what Jackson did to the Cherokees.
That confirms what I wrote, no?
How could Peter Temin know the motivations of London central bankers? These men hold the cards close to their vests. Did Temin's evidence consist of quotes from newspapers? That does not sound very reliable.
Reductions in silver mining do not force bankers to stop creating money. Such reports are fed to the public to provide an excuse for the intentional boom-bust fluctuation.
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