November 28-29 - Happy Thanksgiving! Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, Dr. Thomas Kidd, Associate Professor of History at Baylor University who specializes in America’s Founding, joins me on the program.  Thomas and I discuss some of the early history that surrounds “Thanksgiving” in the United States.  Almost all Americans know the story of the Pilgrims who back in 1620 created the settlement in what became known as Plymouth, Massachusetts, and gave thanks to God after surviving their first winter and reaping their first harvest.  But most people do not know the subsequent history.

Today, Thanksgiving is a general celebration of our country, health, family and success.  Many families use it as an opportunity to thank God for His love and generosity.  Many Americans also acknowledge our abundance and remember that there are many people who are less fortunate than we are here in the United States and around the world.  While this general approach is a valuable exercise, the early Thanksgiving celebrations in this country were days set aside to offer thanks to God for survival through specific hardships and trials.

President George Washington drew on this common practice when he issued the first presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789, just a few months after his April 30 inauguration and just 16 months after the nation adopted the U.S. Constitution (June 1788).  The proclamation recommends “to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”  This first official Thanksgiving occurred on Thursday, November 26, 1789.  Days of Thanksgiving were declared by Presidents on and off over the succeeding 74 years.  It was not until Abraham Lincoln’s call for a day of Prayer and Thanksgiving in 1863, at the height of the Civil War that our modern holiday took shape on the final Thursday of November each year.  We are standing on the shoulders of many who came before us when we celebrate Thanksgiving this year!

Phil Orlando, Senior Vice President and Chief Equity Market Strategist for Federated Investors, offers encouraging and instructive economic analysis for this Thanksgiving weekend.  Phil agrees with several other economists who have recently appeared on my show that we are in the midst of a strong cyclical recovery from the recent recession.  The 2.8% growth in GDP the U.S. economy experienced in the 3^rd quarter (July through September) was the result of low interest rates, relatively low energy costs, inventory building after many months of inventory paring during the long recession, and strong growth in exports due to a robust global recovery led by China and India.  Phil states that the recession is over -he thinks it actually ended around June.  Of significance, he believes one reason we are experiencing a recovery is that our Democratic Party controlled Congress and White House have so far failed to enact liberal, anti-growth policies like Union Card Check, Cap and Trade, and Socialized Medicine.  Phil believes that President Obama’s fiscal stimulus has had little or no effect and does not see a need for the additional government stimulus that some Democratic Party leaders are proposing.  Phil sees a risk of a new economic slowdown or even recession in 2011 or beyond if the proposed “progressive” policies, as well as new taxes and spending (on top of the tax increases that are already scheduled for January 2011) are put in place.

Whether or not the current recovery is strong and lasting depends on how much damage President Obama’s “liberal, progressive” agenda does if it becomes law.  Fortunately for all Americans (whether they know it or not) the political pendulum is already swinging back to the political right as evidenced by the 2009 election results in New Jersey and Virginia.

The relatively good news on the economy is little consolation to those who are unemployed this Holiday Season.  With high unemployment, so much job killing legislation pending in Congress, and higher tax rates on the books that will have a negative affect on everyone, many are struggling and may not feel like giving thanks this year.  Although we continue to face many obstacles as individuals and as a nation, remember that Washington and his men endured difficult, indeed desperate days in 1776 before winning the battle of Trenton.  After suffering a series of military defeats between August and November, Washington was left with less than one third of his original troop strength.  The 3,000 soldiers who remained were cold, hungry, and demoralized.  But Washington did not give up the fight for freedom and independence.  He fought on.  He won the battle of Trenton while suffering only two casualties, and set in motion a series of events that would eventually (after seven more long years) lead the new American Army to victory over the British.  Six more years after the American military victory, Washington, as President, issued the Thanksgiving proclamation discussed above.  Just as Washington emerged victorious, I remain confident that we too will emerge from our current time of uncertainty stronger than ever.  As long as we remain vigilant, we will celebrate many additional conservative victories at the ballot box across the country in 2010 and again in 2012.