Criticism of government help is nothing new

Ruth Baker, Las Vegas

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

In the late 1930s, when I was a teenager, I became interested in politics. The economy back then wasn’t much different from what it is today. It seems history is repeating itself.

President Herbert Hoover may have been a brilliant engineer, but he couldn’t get his head out of the sand. President Franklin Roosevelt gave us the New Deal to get the population back to work. The naysayers called it socialistic, said it wouldn’t work, that it was too expensive, that it would break the economy, etc. But we know it did work.

President Barack Obama gave us a stimulus program to try to get the economy back on its feet, but the naysayers are repeating the same old excuses and lies they did back then. The stimulus plan may not be perfect, but it’s working.

When President Lyndon Johnson introduced Medicare, the naysayers cried socialism, said it wouldn’t work, that it was too expensive, that it will break the economy, etc. Well, many millions of people are grateful for it. Obama wants to give us health care reform, and provide a public option, but the naysayers are repeating the same old excuses and lies, even though Medicare and the VA medical system have proven to be very successful.

After 70 years of our government trying to help its citizens have a better quality of life, the naysayers are again claiming none of Obama’s programs will work, and they repeat the same old excuses and lies. It’s deja vu.

For all those naysayers of today, I want to know how you sleep nights knowing that tens of millions of people do not have health insurance. One never knows what life has in store for us, so I truly hope that you remain employed and that you live long and healthy lives.