Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“This year (1937) marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Constitutional Convention which made us a nation. At that Convention our forefathers found the way out of the chaos which followed the Revolutionary War; they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution. A century and a half ago they established the Federal Government in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to the American people.”
It has now been two hundred and thirty years since the Federal government was established. It has watched over us during the War of 1812, the Civil War, both of the World Wars and others. I feel confident that it will continue to oversee us in times of toil and turmoil and like a protective parent, it will always be looking out for us.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.”
These remarks were made by Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1933. Are these words as true today as they were in 1932? True, there are such issues as green-house warming and concern over the depletion of our oil reserves, but,in the bottom line, we are a proud nation of many resources. Let’s just learn to manage them better.
Friday, September 8, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.”
All too often, we forget that a democracy is controlled by the voters. Every citizen of the United States should remember that fact when one of our elected officials does something that is contrary to our views.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“The attempt to make a distinction between recovery and reform is a narrowly conceived effort to substitute the appearance of reality for reality itself. When a man is convalescing from illness, wisdom dictates not only cure of the symptoms but also removal of their cause. “
These remarks were made by FDR in his State of the Union address before Congress in 1935.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy.”
These remarks were spoken by FDR in his fourth inaugural address on January 20,1945.
Monday, September 4, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“Instinctively we recognized a deeper need–the need to find through government the instrument of our united purpose to solve for the individual the ever-rising problems of a complex civilization.”
These remarks were made by FDR in his second inaugural address on January 20,1937.
Friday, September 1, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“The broader task of preventing unemployment is a matter of long’-range evolutionary policy.”
“Fluctuations in employment are tied to all other wasteful fluctuations in our mechanism of production and distribution.”
These remarks were made by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Although unemployment isn’t as prevalent in the 21st century as it was in Roosevelt’s time, it is still a measure to be dealt with.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Posted by Kimball White
“…we must have friends who will work with us in peace as they have fought at our side in war. ”
This quotation comes from FDR’s last State of the Union address in 1945.
Posted by Kimball White
“Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit;”
These remarks were made in FDR’s First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1933.
Posted by Kimball White
“It is our traditional policy to live at peace with other nations.”
These remarks were made by Franklin D.Roosevelt in his State of the Union address to Congress in 1938.