Cass from Butler credits FDR's policies with helping to accelerate the US's recovery from the Depression, but he fails to realize that FDR's brazen power-grabs were no different than the actual causes of the Depression. Additionally, Cass needs to consider that the bank runs that occurred during the Depression were entirely the product of Federal Reserve manipulations of the money supply and interest rates, not the products of the free market.The fact remains that polices instituted by Democrats, Republicans (as Greg from Butler, Cass, and Andy have stated), and the Federal Reserve were the ultimate cause of the Depression and are the cause of the current economic recession. The current stimulus plan, initiated by former President Bush, is a disastrous monstrosity that will prolong the economic downturn and expand government power immeasurably while, as Greg has pointed out, destroying any semblance of fiscal responsibility. As Laurie from Butler has written, people can no longer sit "on our hands while all of this is going on," and must champion ideas such as limited government, lower taxes, and a respect for the free market (not the mongrel mixed economy we have today).