understanding the recession and the election

My old roommate Habbs has a post about his dissatisfaction, as a conservative with the Republican Party. He's even got a manifesto as a conservative. It got me thinking. I'm not much for political parties but I am a fan of politicians with the will to govern and look out for the middle class and the underclasses in the process.

So now I'd like to lay out what I'm after in the next president and congress.

I'd say the best thing we could have right now is the return of FDR. But I'm a Christian, so I'm waiting for Jesus to come instead, so I'll settle for somebody who gets 2 things
1) that there's a bill of rights (including the first, second, and fifth amendments)
2) that we've got a pretty shaky economy because of greed...

• the finance industry benefited from the lax attitude towards consumer/borrower protection that was encouraged by Reagan, Bush 1 & 2 and Clinton, and the neo-conservative's acolytes in the leadership of the now defunct Republican Congress.
  
• oil/gas profiteers have decided now (during a war) is the time to squeeze consumers for every last drop of profit before consumers drop them in favor of other sources of energy.
• Many consumers added to this mess through their own greed borrowing until they had no means to pay back their creditors.

We have a growing recession based on broad consumer greed and the greed of profit taking by a very few in the energy and finance sectors of the economy during a time of war.

Neither party seems to get this complex situation because they are both being bought and sold every two years as they run candidates for election and re-election. What I care about is finding somebody to vote for who gets that we need real solutions to the recession.
the equation I see at work right now is

mortgage & credit-card debt
+
stagflation trigger by high oil & gas costs
=
a greed induced recession

I'm convinced that the solutions that work might be more radical than we've seen discussed thus far. If you are a dyed in the wool conservative it might be time to reread your US History books about the period between 1928 and 1940.

For a little background (in case you didn't take a class that included 20th century history) this current recession isn't our nations worst economic crisis. What Hoover did ignoring the depression from the crash of October 1929 until he left office in March of 1933 is the worst example of presidential economic negligence known.

In 1933 Roosevelt was called a socialist. But what he did saved the US for future capitalism. Bush's recession is mild in comparison to Hoover's, so far. Scary thing is some of the same underlying elements are creeping in

• steep drop in property values,
• displacement of workers,
• negative saving rate, and
• shrinking domestic industrial production.

FDR shut every bank in the country for fear that the whole economic system was about to crumble. He let none reopen until audited and subsequently insured by the FDIC. Most people alive today have never seen a run on a bank. Find a guy in his 90's to talk with and you might hear a story or two about Roosevelt's bank holiday.

Most conservatives don't like to talk about the New Deal; but ask any old timer who worked in the CCC about the dignity of having a job and he might tell you just how much the government can do, if well led, to benefit the most in this nation.