Lee E. Ohanian, a UCLA economist, blames President Herbert Hoover for the Depression but with a surprising twist that I've never heard: his pro-labor policy that kept wages too high and encouraged job sharing, which in turn depressed employment. Ohanian says that this was the single most important event that caused the Depression. See this link. Well, let's take this further: Roosevelt's Section 7a of the National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), Wagner Act (1935), Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). That's off the top of my head.

The usual culprits are the Smoot-Hawley tariff and raising taxes. 

After writing my Congressman and Senators on July 24, I have now heard from them all. It was a pleasure to receive their form letters ignoring every point I had made and repeating the litany about the health care crisis in this country and its 47 million uninsured. They were all very glad to hear from me, and they are taking the whole matter very seriously.

One of them whined that USPS mail was slow getting to Washington DC but he still wants the government to run our health care system.

After raucous town hall meetings and declining poll numbers, Politico predicts significant losses for Democrats in 2010. We may be getting ahead of ourselves. On the Republican side, they have no leadership.

Looking back

I started this blog less than a month ago, and this will be my 65th post. I don't know what inspired me and created such an outpouring of activity. Apparently I needed a outlet for excessive energy, but I think that the explosion of the health care debate played a larger role. This issue is close to me because of my own health issues and my attitudes about politics and the economy.

I blogged a few years ago and enjoyed it. My posts were linked to classes that I was teaching at the time, and I think I was able to give students something extra that they could not get in the classroom. If I had had access to an internet connection in the classroom, which is more common now, then that would have worked as well. I tried to post something every day, and keep up with the course.

I don't know what the future of this blog will be. Some bloggers are able to keep up their pace for years. I don't see how some of them have the time that's required. That's not a problem with me. A sense of fatigue may set in, but at this point I hope not. I'm not writing this blog for anyone else. You could just call it a hobby. Well, I don't hunt, I don't fish....

Elmer Kelton, a western writer, has died. He was best known for The Time It Never Rained.

Rasmussen: 57 percent would vote to replace the entire Congress and start over. Amen! Congress' approval rating has, at least in my memory, never been high. The usual focus on the president's rating ignores Congress'.

Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo): The GOP will probably not be on board for ObamaCare. The reasons are economic. Despite what Obama says, the Democrats want to strip $200 billion from Medicare to pay for uninsured workers.

Gallup: Conservatives outnumber liberals in all 50 states. You won't know this if you watch Charlie Gibson.

St. Paul's College in Charleston, WV, has canceled its first game of the season with West Virginia Wesleyan. Their helments and pads have not come in. Borrow them from somebody!

Opposition to ObamaCare may have peaked at 53 percent.