The following diary was uncovered recently by historians in New York City. It contains an Op-Ed piece originally published in December of 1933 in New York's then-famed New York City Spyglass. It has been reprinted here for the first time.
Allow me to remind you of the world as it existed ten months ago. The United States was in the grips of the most severe financial calamity of our lifetimes. A failure of a President had rendered the Republican party virtually impotent, and populist outrage at the excesses of Wallstreet had reached a boiling point. The time was ripe for a charismatic Democratic president armed with majorities in congress to re-make this country from the ground up with the will of the people behind him.
Now, allow me to remind you of the world as it exists today. We are still in the midst of that same crisis. And the reason is clear--our supposedly liberal president has sold us out, watered down real reform, and kept us on the same path the failed Republicans would have endorsed. In short, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a Democrat in name only, and we must withdraw our support from him at once.
Oh, some of you may say that Roosevelt needs more time, or that he is only doing what the realities of the day require of him. Let me remind you of his failings.
As early as 1929, the world's economists were virtually unanimous in agreeing that abandoning the gold standard would be one of the most effective ways to end this horrible depression. Roosevelt himself agreed, and yet look at where we are today: instead of ending the gold standard, we've settled for a compromised half-measure in which we have simply banned the private ownership of gold. That is a far cry from the promises of the campaign trail.
Worse, Roosevelt's "New Deal" has been a colossal failure. One in five Americans is unemployed today. A 22% rate may be better than the 24% Roosevelt inherited, but it's nowhere near enough. Where is the relief American workers were promised?
Despite the fact that Wallstreet has run amok and brought down horror and hardship on this country, Roosevelt has yet to nationalize the banks or allow them to fail on their own merits. In fact, one of his first acts was to give those banks a holiday!
And in the midst of all this, he slashes the regular federal budget, listening to the nonsensical natterings of the deficit hawks and other right-wing nay-sayers. Despite his promised New Deal in which the government is supposed to take care of the less fortunate in our society, he has slashed Veterans' benefits by 40% and has reduced spending on research and education.
Further, health care is still a privilege, not a right, enjoyed by only a wealthy few. We have defended Capitalism, rather than embracing a better way. Our income tax system is still woefully non-progressive. Many of the foulest big businesses in the country have benefited enormously, while marginal farmers have been hung out to try.
Perhaps most shocking of all, his Secretary of the Treasury, William Woodwin, is a Republican and an industrialist--exactly the kind of people who got us into this mess in the first place.
And we call this man a Democrat?
It is clear from these last few months that Roosevelt's rhetoric was empty and that his promises are broken. All that remains is to see if there are enough deluded souls left to grant him an un-deserved second term.
Yours truly,
Filliam H. Muffman, Esq.