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.

Balance the budget within a year or two out of rising national income, without new taxes — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936

Similar by rationale solution · rationale

Score	Cycle	Candidate	Issue	Position
0.68	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of federal spending	Defense of the eight-billion-dollar deficit as an investment in America
0.49	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of federal spending	Cut the cost of the federal government by at least 25 percent
0.47	1936	Alf Landon	Flood control and river-basin development	Federal construction of head-water storage basins to prevent floods, with the consent of the States concerned
0.46	1932	Herbert Hoover	Benefits for disabled and service-connected veterans	Full relief for service-disabled veterans and dependents; review existing veterans' laws to remove inequalities and effect economies
0.45	1932	Herbert Hoover	Level of federal spending	Cut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch
0.41	1936	Alf Landon	Balancing the federal budget	Balance the budget by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes
0.41	1936	Alf Landon	National economic planning	End federal regimentation: no revival of NRA or AAA controls, no more emergency powers over production, wages and hours
0.40	1932	Herbert Hoover	Veterans' bonus and benefits	Oppose cash prepayment of the veterans' bonus, especially by fiat money
0.39	1932	Herbert Hoover	Naval arms and disarmament	Cut world armaments by one-third through the Geneva conference while keeping forces strong enough that 'no foreign soldier will land'
0.38	1932	Herbert Hoover	Balancing the federal budget	A balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability'
0.38	1932	Norman Thomas	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Steeply increased income and inheritance taxes
0.38	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Level of military spending	An adequate Army and Navy without a near-billion-dollar peacetime burden
0.38	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Raise revenue by graduated income, inheritance and profits taxes, not taxes on necessities
0.38	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Naval arms and disarmament	International agreements for the reduction of armaments
0.37	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
0.37	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Veterans' bonus and benefits	No early payment of the veterans' bonus until the budget is balanced with a cash surplus
0.36	1936	Alf Landon	European war debts and reparations	Use every effort to collect the war debts due from foreign countries
0.35	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	International economic and monetary conferences	Convene international monetary and economic conferences to stabilize currencies and restore trade
0.35	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Concentrated economic power vs. the average citizen (rhetorical framing)	'I welcome their hatred': a second term in which organized money meets its master
0.35	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Income and inheritance tax progressivity	Taxes levied according to ability to pay; lower taxes for 99 percent, higher at the top
0.35	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
0.34	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Public ownership of electric power	Public development of hydro-electric power on the St. Lawrence model, with national control of interstate transmission
0.34	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Concentrated economic power vs. the average citizen (rhetorical framing)	Take power from the 'economic royalists': the mandate of 1932 is to end economic tyranny
0.34	1932	Herbert Hoover	Public ownership of electric power	Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business
0.32	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Balancing the federal budget	Balance the federal budget annually within revenues