WPA Poster: The five and dime store

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

A New Deal for Indiana

(Robert Snyder of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has dinner with his wife and three children, in November of 1937 . Thanks to the WPA, Mr. Snyder was able to work, receive a paycheck, and support his family through the hard times of the Great Depression. Photo courtesy of National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

In recent years, Indiana's regressive taxation (i.e., forcing middle-class & low-income residents to pay higher tax rates than the rich) and low revenue have spurred budget cuts (or threats of budget cuts) for the state's libraries, K-12 schools, institutes for higher education, and more. Additionally, in 2013 the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Indiana a "D+" letter grade for its infrastructure, noting that nearly 2,000 of its bridges are "structurally deficient"; 16% of its major roads "are in poor condition"; its system of parks is nearly half-a-billion dollars short of its needs; and the state only has five full-time employees to oversee about a 1,000 dams - a quarter of which are considered "high hazard."

With the assistance of a more helpful federal government, major investments were made in Indiana during the 1930s and 40s - investments which still help the state today. Consider these facts & figures for the Hoosier State...

Civil Works Administration (CWA):

In January of 1934, there were 104,000 Indianans working in the CWA, building or repairing schools, roads, bridges, and more.

(Source: "Analysis of Civil Works Program Statistics," 1939, p. 18)

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA):

In February of 1935, 2,861 college students in Indiana were employed in FERA's College Student Aid Program. This was a program "undertaken in order to enable young persons who would not otherwise have been able to do so to continue their education, and thereby reduce the influx of young workers into the labor market" (recall that during the Great Depression there was a large drop in the demand for labor).

Between 1933 and 1935, FERA granted $52 million to Indiana for relief efforts (about $885 million in today's dollars). FERA funds typically went towards cash relief, rural relief projects, and a wide variety of work programs.

(Source: "Final Statistical Report of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration," 1942, pp. 64, 103, and 232)

(Nursery school furniture made in Indiana, with the assistance of FERA funds, 1935. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the New Deal Network.) 

Public Works Administration (PWA):

By 1939, the PWA had contributed $44 million in funding towards 477 infrastructure projects in Indiana (not including federal projects). In today's dollars, that's about $749 million.

(Source: "America Builds: The Record of PWA," 1939, p. 284)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC):

Between 1933 and 1942, about 64,000 Indiana men were employed in the CCC. This included about 59,000 junior and veteran enrollees and 5,000 staff. Among their many accomplishments were the planting of 24 million trees and the building of of 580 wildlife shelters.

(Source: Perry H. Merrill, "Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942," 1981, p. 127)

(A CCC camp sign in Brownstown, Indiana, 1933. Notice the image of what appears to be President Roosevelt in the upper right hand corner of the sign. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.)

Public Works of Art Project (PWAP):

Between 1933 and 1934, in Region 9 of the PWAP (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan), unemployed artists were paid to create 70 sculptures, 159 water color paintings, 161 murals, 210 oil paintings, and other works of art, for use in public buildings and parks.

(Source: Public Works of Art Project, "Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, December 8, 1933 - June 30, 1934," 1934, p. 8)

National Youth Administration (NYA):

During academic year 1939-1940, 781 schools and colleges in Indiana were participating in the NYA program, employing about 11,000 students each month.

During any given month of fiscal year 1942, there were about 6,000 young Indiana men & women in the NYA's out-of-school work program.

(Source: Federal Security Agency - War Manpower Commission, "Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943," 1944, pp. 246-247, and 254)

(WPA Children's Theatre in Gary, Indiana. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the New Deal Network.)

Post Offices:

During the New Deal era, the U.S Treasury built or expanded Post Office buildings in Indiana and commissioned artists to decorate them. See the Living New Deal's Indiana pages for examples.

Works Progress Administration (WPA):

Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers in Indiana produced 6.8 million articles of clothing; served 13.1 million school lunches; created or improved 24,000 miles of roads; built or improved 3,000 bridges & viaducts; installed or improved 36,000 culverts; engaged in over 950 projects to build, repair, or improve schools; created or improved 361 parks; installed 245 miles of new water lines; constructed 75,000 linear feet of new airport & airfield runway; and more.

(Source: "Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43," 1946, pp. 134-136)

(A WPA culvert project in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1937. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

The making of a WPA barrel chair

This barrel chair was made by the WPA in West Virginia. All images courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.

The Reverse New Deal: Eliminating the estate tax and solidifying the American caste system

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "caste" as "a division of society based upon differences of wealth, rank, or occupation."

(Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt with friends and family, 1942. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.)

Even as income & wealth inequality continues to soar, and even as politicians work feverishly to decimate our already-weak social safety net--screaming, "We can't afford it!"--Republicans are trying to eliminate the estate tax (a tax that only affects the wealthiest of the wealthy), thereby terminating hundreds of billions of dollars of federal revenue.

Republicans want to make sure that the children of the wealthy will never have to struggle for success, or even work for a living, and that these new generations of idle rich citizens will have loads of cash to thank them for it. Make no mistake about it, this is not only a naked display of plutocracy, but it's also a sign that we're heading towards a more rigid caste system where tremendous amounts of wealth are passed down from generation to generation, and within a small number of families. Meanwhile, everyone not born into wealth will be stuck with stagnant wages, rising prices, and rising debt (i.e., more of what's already happening).

President Franklin Roosevelt once said, "The transmission from generation to generation of vast fortunes by will, inheritance, or gift is not consistent with the ideas and sentiments of the American people." And so, with the Revenue Act of 1935, he and his fellow New Deal policymakers raised the top tax rate on estates from 50% to 70%. (See, Joseph J. Thorndike, Their Fair Share: Taxing the Rich in the Age of FDR, Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 2013, pp. 162-174).

Today, tens of millions of American voters are electing politicians who are fighting for gargantuan tax cuts for only a few American voters (the 0.1%). Read that again, very carefully. The rest of us? Oh, we might get a $5 tax savings here and there, but we're mainly getting higher (and regressive) taxes, tolls, fees, and fines at the state & local level to make up for the revenue difference. That's right: We're subsidizing tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy by paying more taxes, tolls, fees, and fines, even as we struggle to pay for the basic necessities of life (see my blog posts here and here).

Welcome to the Reverse New Deal: Eliminating the estate tax and solidifying the American caste system.  

(In the video above (full of colorful language, by the way), Bill Maher ponders why the Republican philosophy about the virtue of work doesn't apply to the heirs of the super-wealthy, and why Republicans are trying to get rid of all taxes on inherited wealth. Original YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arIH19fGP84).

WPA Art: "Forgotten Cow"

("Forgotten Cow," a graphic art by WPA artist Jack Markow. Image courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

WPA Art - "Harlem Musicians"

("Harlem Musicians," a silk screen by WPA artist Elizabeth Olds. Image courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

WPA Art - "Unemployed"

Above: "Unemployed," a lithograph by WPA artist Joland Gross Bettelheim. With the official unemployment rate much improved since the height of the recession, many people might not know that there are still nearly 22 million Americans who would like a full-time job but can't find one. Image courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.