We need to get folks back to work

I’m an old man who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. FDR created many programs in his attempt to end the Depression. There was the National Recovery Act, which was ruled unconstitutional, the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). These programs produced many desirable results and kept a lot of families off the bread line, but did little to end the Depression, which lasted many years. It came to an end at the beginning of World War II, when there came a demand for manufactured products to aid our allies and later to support our war effort.

One approach that may end our current downturn would be legislation that would require that all government purchases of manufactured products be produced in the United States.

Products purchased by the government would cost more than free-trade products that would remain available on the civilian market, but would result in the opening of new factories, enlarging others, reducing unemployment and, hopefully, getting the economy moving again.

Jack E. Sceva

Stanwood

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