PresidentialPositionsIssuesReceptionTimelineDocuments

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 by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes — Alf Landon, 1936

Similar by solution solution · rationale

ScoreCycleCandidateIssuePosition
0.651932Franklin D. RooseveltBalancing the federal budgetBalance the federal budget annually within revenues
0.621932Herbert HooverBalancing the federal budgetA balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability'
0.591936Franklin D. RooseveltBalancing the federal budgetBalance the budget within a year or two out of rising national income, without new taxes
0.571932Franklin D. RooseveltVeterans' bonus and benefitsNo early payment of the veterans' bonus until the budget is balanced with a cash surplus
0.541936Franklin D. RooseveltLevel of federal spendingDefense of the eight-billion-dollar deficit as an investment in America
0.531932Herbert HooverLevel of federal spendingCut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch
0.531932Franklin D. RooseveltLevel of federal spendingCut the cost of the federal government by at least 25 percent
0.501936Frank KnoxBalancing the federal budgetA budget balanced immediately and a currency based on and convertible into gold
0.501936Franklin D. RooseveltLevel of federal spendingReduce the expenses of government as relief needs decline
0.491932Norman ThomasFederal responsibility for reliefA $5 billion federal appropriation for immediate relief of those in need
0.461932Herbert HooverGold standard and currency basisHold the gold standard and the 'honest dollar'; no fiat money, no 'rubber dollar' price-fixing
0.461932Franklin D. RooseveltControl of credit expansionPrevent another runaway credit expansion through government information, not government control of credit
0.461932Franklin D. RooseveltFarm prices and agricultural surplusRaise staple farm prices by a tariff-equivalent benefit plus voluntary production control, at no cost to the Treasury
0.461936Huey P. LongDistribution of national income and purchasing powerShare Our Wealth: cap fortunes, guarantee every family a homestead and income
0.461936Alf LandonOverall role and scale of the federal governmentRestore confidence by 'unshackling initiative': steady, open, non-partisan administration that stops 'fumbling with recovery'
0.451932Herbert HooverEuropean war debts and reparationsNo cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products
0.451936Franklin D. RooseveltIncome and inheritance tax progressivityTaxes levied according to ability to pay; lower taxes for 99 percent, higher at the top
0.451932Franklin D. RooseveltLevel of military spendingAn adequate Army and Navy without a near-billion-dollar peacetime burden
0.451936Alf LandonHow to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go)Repeal the compulsory old-age insurance plan; pay every needy citizen over 65 a pension from a direct, widely distributed tax
0.451932Herbert HooverPublic works as employment policyFederal construction at three times normal and $1.5 billion of RFC loans for self-liquidating works — but no pork-barrel or non-productive projects
0.441936Alf LandonFarm prices and agricultural surplusCash benefits on the domestically consumed portion of export crops to make the tariff effective, limited to the family-type farm; no scarcity program, no processing tax
0.431936William LemkePublic control of the central bank and money creation'Drive the money changers out of the temple': public control of money and credit, further inflation of the currency
0.431936Alf LandonGold standard and currency basisSound currency 'at all hazards'; no further devaluation; repeal the laws delegating the money power to the Executive
0.421936Franklin D. RooseveltGold standard and currency basisA permanently sound currency stabilized against wide fluctuations
0.421936William E. BorahAntitrust and concentration of economic powerDrive monopoly and price fixing out of the system or face governmental regimentation