REA-Only 10% of rural residents had power in 1930-Power companies said it lacked profitability and wouldn’t do it-Private companies set rural rates 4x as high as city rates-Roosevelt Administration decided they needed electricity so federal government stepped in-Private utilities companies said government had no right to compete with or regulate private enterprises-Rural Electric Administration created in 1935-There was no direct competition between government and private companies-Made loans available to local electrification cooperatives-Brought electricity to rural areas-Farmers supposed to pay for construction along with electricity-Many groups, especially utility companies, opposed governments involvement in power-Some members of congress thought TVA(Tennessee Valley Authority)was a step towards communism-Many thought farmers didn’t have skills needed to manage local electric companies-1939 REA established 417 rural electric cooperatives-Supplied power to 288,000 households-1939 rural electricity rose to 25%-Farmers required more energy than those in the cities-1934 less than 11%, 1942 nearly 50%, 1952 almost all-1949 REA authorized to give loans to rural telephone companies-The reorganization of REA into RUS was authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/tva10.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Electrification_AdministrationFDR vs. Supreme Court-Begun in 1935 when court invalidated large part of New Deal-“The Four Horseman” were the conservative wing of the supreme court-Found pretty much any innovation unconstitutional-Liberal wing consisted of 3 judges who were willing to give Congress more power-Chief Justice and one other were middle grounds-They were opposed to FDRs proposals-All justices found NRAs petroleum code unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States-NRA was supposed to be main point of New Deal-Same day shot down Frazier- Lemke Act for farm debtors relief-Felt like they had turned against him-Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 allowed him to appoint 6 new judges-“court-packing plan”-Would’ve packed with democrats so his bills would pass-Eventually failed-Started looking like a dictator-People didn’t like the bill and in turn didn’t like the presidenthttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125321024http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1958/3/1958_3_24.shtml
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