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1932 › John Nance Garner (Democratic) › Public works as employment policy
The Garner-Rainey $1.2 billion public-works bill — and a pledge to reintroduce it
pledge_forwardspecific_pledgeopponent_characterizationevidence B Federal Budget & SpendingInfrastructure & Public Works⚡ The Great Depression similar solutions · similar reasoning
Solution
As Speaker, secured House passage (June 1932) of a $1,200 million public-works program covering 3,500 projects, plus RFC loans to states; announced he would introduce it again in the next session.
Rationale
Direct federal construction as unemployment relief; Hoover called it pork-barrel.
Garner made almost no personal campaign statements; his positions are reconstructed from his House record as described by his opponent. Hoover's account of the bill's contents is broadly accurate; the 'pork' characterization is contested.
Statements (2)
the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate introduced, in May of this year, and secured the passage of a bill in the Democratic House of Representatives calling for $1,200 million more of public works.
The Democratic candidate for Vice-President still advocates that bill. He proposes to introduce it in the next session. He proposes it as a part of the policies of the Democratic Party.
Follow-through
not_applicable
Garner became Vice President; NIRA Title II ($3.3 billion) exceeded the Garner-Rainey bill he had promised to reintroduce.
Enacted by others
| 1933-06-16 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | statute NIRA Title II (PWA) | source |
Other positions on this issue
- 'Employment for all surplus labor at all times' through self-liquidating public works (the Shearon letter, as Hoover read it) — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 specific_pledge
- Public works spending is only a stopgap, not a cure for unemployment — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 directional_stance
- Expand self-sustaining public works and temporary federal work (forests, flood control, waterways), with advance planning — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 specific_pledge
- Federal construction at three times normal and $1.5 billion of RFC loans for self-liquidating works — but no pork-barrel or non-productive projects — Herbert Hoover, 1932 specific_pledge
- Ratify the St. Lawrence seaway treaty and complete the inland waterway system — Herbert Hoover, 1932 specific_pledge
- A $5 billion federal public-works program — roads, reforestation, slum clearance, workers' housing — and idle factories and land turned over to the unemployed — Norman Thomas, 1932 specific_pledge
1932-garner-rainey-public-works-bill · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed