Court Packing and The Roosevelt Recession A Bad Day for FDR?????

Unconstitutionality There were many who complained that the New Deal programs went too far  they gave too much power to the executive branch  they took a lot of power away from the people Two major New Deal agencies were challenged before the Supreme Court (NRA, AAA)  Supreme Court ruled that these two agencies were unconstitutional  this caused many to question the legality of the entire program

Pack That Court FDR was not happy with SCOTUS so he decided to attack it 1937 FDR attempted to add new justices to the Court  go from 9 to 15 by adding one justice for every justice over the age of 70  FDR’s plan was not well received by the people of Congress FDR dropped Court packing plan but the threat had an impact  SCOTUS did not go against FDR backed plans again

Internal Deliberations Why would FDR feel the need to attempt to “mess with” the courts and the Constitution?  Think about the elections and what FDR may have thought about his election. Why would the people respond so negatively to FDR’s plan?

The Roosevelt Recession By the end of 1936 there were signs that the economy was improving  unemployment was down to a Depression era low In 1937 there was a “double dip” recession where the economy plummeted downward again  rising unemployment and decreasing production brought about more misery for the American peoples FDR responded by creating more “relief” programs and spending more government money

Unemployment There was a big increase in unemployment in the second half of the 1930s  it originally dropped from 1933 to 1936 (25% down to 14%)  With Roosevelt Recession it shot right back up to 20% While the rest of the industrialized world generally saw a reduction in unemployment the US saw a big increase

Internal Deliberations Thinking about the New Deal and the Second New Deal what do you suppose caused the Roosevelt Recession? (be specific when explaining this) What could FDR have done to try to get out of this new recession?

Causes of the Roosevelt Recession new government regulations cut down on business spending new laws and government protections helped unions and workers gain more from the owners (increase in wages and benefits came out of the profits that business could have put into expansion) gov’t began taking money out of paychecks and payrolls for Social Security so there is less spendable money FDR’s constant attacks on wealthy and business created uncertainty so there was lack of business spending  He once called for a 100% tax on all income over $25,000 stock market again fell destroying any chance of recovery