Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.

The Garner-Rainey $1.2 billion public-works bill — and a pledge to reintroduce it — John Nance Garner, 1932

Similar by rationale solution · rationale

Score	Cycle	Candidate	Issue	Position
0.41	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Public works as employment policy	'Employment for all surplus labor at all times' through self-liquidating public works (the Shearon letter, as Hoover read it)
0.36	1932	Norman Thomas	Working hours and labor standards	The six-hour day and five-day week without reduction in wages
0.36	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Restriction of immigration	Continue immigration restriction to protect labor, but end abuses against individual families in enforcement
0.35	1936	Alf Landon	Unemployment insurance	Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it
0.34	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of federal spending	Reduce the expenses of government as relief needs decline
0.33	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Public works as employment policy	Expand self-sustaining public works and temporary federal work (forests, flood control, waterways), with advance planning
0.32	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Working hours and labor standards	Spread employment by substantially reducing hours of labor, starting in government service
0.32	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Reforestation and land policy	Employ a million men reforesting marginal and abandoned land
0.31	1936	Alf Landon	Politics and patronage in relief administration	Relief will continue, but purged of politics, administered locally on merit, with economies taken from 'the political exploiters'
0.31	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Tariff levels	Revise the tariff downward through reciprocal trade agreements
0.30	1932	Herbert Hoover	Right to organize and bargain collectively	Collective bargaining by representatives of the employees' own choice, 'without the interference of any one'
0.29	1932	Herbert Hoover	Public works as employment policy	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
0.29	1932	Herbert Hoover	Farm prices and agricultural surplus	Farm prices can be restored only by general recovery and markets — no production control, no subsidies; repeal Farm Board stabilization
0.28	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Direct relief for the unemployed	Provide useful work at prevailing wages for the needy unemployed rather than a dole
0.28	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Public works as employment policy	Public works spending is only a stopgap, not a cure for unemployment
0.28	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of federal spending	Cut the cost of the federal government by at least 25 percent
0.28	1932	Albert C. Ritchie	National Prohibition	Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights
0.28	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Reorganization of the executive branch	A long-range plan consolidating the federal government's scattered public-health and welfare agencies
0.27	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Raise revenue by graduated income, inheritance and profits taxes, not taxes on necessities
0.27	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go)	Defense of the payroll-tax financing: the employer pays an equal share and the reserves are safe
0.26	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Old-age pensions and social insurance	Old-age insurance under state laws
0.26	1932	Herbert Hoover	European war debts and reparations	No cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products
0.26	1932	Albert C. Ritchie	Federal responsibility for relief	States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief
0.26	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Campaign finance and lobbying	Continuous publicity of political contributions; stronger Corrupt Practices Act; curb paid lobbies
0.26	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Philippine independence	Independence for the Philippines; ultimate statehood for Puerto Rico