Today

Today over at The Burning Taper there is a post up about FDR's Fireside Chat on the Banking Crisis. He says it is more comforting than anything Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, McCain or Obama has said. (BTW - Paulson is supposedly majorly responsible for the mess we are in and we gave him a blank check. - Who is it that wants our economic system to fail?)

Here is the link to the entire chat.

Roosevelt said:

We had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people's funds. They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and unwise loans. This was of course not true in the vast majority of our banks but it was true in enough of them to shock the people for a time into a sense of insecurity and to put them into a frame of mind where they did not differentiate, but seemed to assume that the acts of a comparative few had tainted them all. It was the Government's job to straighten out this situation and do it as quickly as possible -- and the job is being performed .

I do not promise you that every bank will be reopened or that individual losses will not be suffered, but there will be no losses that possibly could be avoided; and there would have been more and greater losses had we continued to drift. I can even promise you salvation for some at least of the sorely pressed banks. We shall be engaged not merely in reopening sound banks but in the creation of sound banks through reorganization. It has been wonderful to me to catch the note of confidence from all over the country. I can never be sufficiently grateful to the people for the loyal support they have given me in their acceptance of the judgment that has dictated our course, even though all of our processes may not have seemed clear to them.

After all there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.

Would that he were our President now.

In other matters I got a surprise call from Bob and Suzanne Kelley to meet them for supper. We ate at Perkins and I had pot roast. It was a wonderful meal and the company was wonderful. Put three retired teachers together and guess what they talked about. Another teacher friend came in and was at the table across from us. With the stories she told of what is going on in school today I am so thankful to be retired. I miss the kids but I certainly don't miss things like "welcoming classrooms" and half hour per child reading tests and boring faculty meetings which accomplish nothing. I am glad to be out of it.

Theresa came to clean. It is so nice to have a clean house again. Now I need to have the carpet cleaned. Have I mentioned how much I hate my carpet? Well I do. Tomorrow night it is off to Des Moines for the first play in the StageWest season. Reefer Madness. Matt and Dan and I have tickets to go together and I am really looking forward to it. Then on Saturday there is the Opera. So much to do, such fun. Things in my life are going well. Getting involved in so many things makes me feel wanted and useful. Thanks for stopping by, ARTYAL. Won't we be glad when this election is over? I know I will be. Big Hugs, j