The actual quote was . . . the government was “submerged in a bowl
of alphabet soup”.

Let’s see if you were paying attention in history class . . .

Give the names for these depression era acronyms:

AAA
CCC
CWA
FERA
FHA
FSA
HOLC
NRA
NYA
NRA
PWA
REA
SSA
TVA
WPA

Please scroll down!

AAA Agricultural Adjustment Administration
CCC Civilian Conservation Corps
CWA Civil Works Administration
FERA Federal Emergency Relief Administration
FHA Federal Housing Administration
FSA Farm Security Administration
HOLC Home Owners Loan Corporation
NRA National Recovery Administration
NYA National Youth Administration
PWA Public Works Administration
REA Rural Electrification Administration
SSA Social Security Administration
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority
WPA Work Projects (Progress) Administration

The quote came from democrat Alfred E. Smith. Even though he was
from Roosevelt’s party, he was no fan of the New Deal. Smith was
the Governor of New York before Franklin held that job and he was
also the unsuccessful democratic Presidential candidate in 1928.

Interesting side note on one of these popular programs . . .

It turned out that some people believed the government had gone too
far and had the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 challenged
in the Supreme Court. This is the act that created the NRA or
National Recovery Administration.

The NRA had a blue eagle symbol with the letters NRA and patriotic firms
were asked to display this logo. In May, 1935, in the case of the
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court
invalidated the NRA’s compulsory-code system on the grounds that the
NRA improperly delegated legislative powers to the executive.