Newt Gingrich once said that FDR was his favorite president of the twentieth century, and perhaps of all American history. Newt says he is conservative, so that would be like somebody saying they are Christian, but their favorite angel is Lucifer.
Even if I didn’t know anything else about his history that alone tells me everything I need to know about Newt. Newt is a historian. He’s not stupid. He knows better.
EDIT: This was just pointed out to me, that the soundbyte I heard was Newt talking about “Most Effective Leader” as opposed to “Best”. Fair enough. That said, FDR still sucked and the post stays.Looking online for actual clip now.
However most people don’t know any better. I hate when people who know jack squat about history tell me how awesome FDR was. I can see why though. Any high school history textbook has FDR down as Super President. All students know was that FDR was that nice old man in a wheelchair that had fireside chats, who then kicked Hitler’s ass. Of course, academics are usually on the left, so why would they malign one of their folk heroes with pesky things like reality?
FDR was not a great president. The legacy he left behind was one of bloated nonsense that we are still suffering from today. Like our current president (FDX), he moved in on a crisis, and used it as an excuse to have the country take a massive left turn.
The Great part of the Great Depression was a result of his policies. Everyone else in the world came out of the depression before we did. The Weimar friggin’ Republic came out of it faster than we did. Remember the place with the wheelbarrows of Retenmarks to buy a loaf of bread? Yeah, that place pulled up faster than us. America’s government meddled too much in industry and finance to let a natural recovery happen. We were too busy fixing prices, burning crops, and spending money on make-work projects. (you should have heard my grandpa go off on the W.P.A. It was many years before I learned that it didn’t actually stand for We Poke Along).
FDR was so in favor of freedom, justice, and the American way, that when the Supreme Court began striking his socialist policies down as unconstitutional, he attempted to destroy the separation of powers by stacking the Supreme Court with more of his handpicked justices. The whole purpose of three branches of government was to keep one from becoming tyrannical. Think about that. FDR tried to destroy one of the fundamental elements of our constitutional government.
His foreign policy sucked. Period. FDR personally thought Mussolini was a swell guy. He handled Japan about as well as Obama is handling Iran.
On a personal level, FDR was such a loathsome human being that he couldn’t even keep a running mate, but he was fairly loyal to his mistresses. But on that count, I can’ t really blame him, because from all accounts his wife was a frigid ice queen that was “disgusted by the touch of a man”.
He was known for giving good speeches. Keep in mind that this was at the dawn of radio and he was the first president to ever take advantage of that medium. Americans were so excited by radio that FDR could have read out of a phone book for ten minutes and everyone still would have tuned in to listen.
I’ve written two books set in an alternative 1930s, so I’ve had to do a lot of research into that time period. The worst, most soul sucking, obnoxious part of that research has been listening to or reading anything by FDR. Knowing what we know now, and the results of his experiments in social engineering, make me grind my teeth.
When I mentioned my opinion of Newt’s pick for favorite president on a web forum earlier, someone pointed out that Newt specified that he liked FDR more in some periods than in others… What, the early parts where his big government programs ruined the economy, or the middle part where his foreign policy didn’t do crap to prevent the biggest war in history, or the later part where he threw over a hundred thousand Americans into concentration camps?
Concentration camps.
But remember kids, it is Republicans that are racist and don’t care about civil liberties. Sure, the Democrat’s greatest hero took something like a hundred and forty thousand men, women, and children, ripped them from their homes with no due process or evidence of guilt, confiscated all their homes, property, and businesses, and then interred them in desolate camps in the desert for several years.
The same media that has an absolute come apart over civil liberties because the Bush administration water boarded a couple of terrorists, picks FDR as their Man of The Century.
I used to live next to Topaz Mountain. The site of the old concentration camp is nothing but a barren patch of scrub desert now. It is cold there. Nasty, horrible biting cold. In the winter the wind rips right through you. I can’t even imagine living in a government supplied shack during a winter there. You stand in the middle of this barren patch of sand, and the realization hits you that our government imprisoned innocent Americans here, it punches you in the gut. We did this thing, and it was evil.
If Newt was really a conservative, and he’s as educated and intelligent as he says he is, then there is no way that he would say FDR was a great, let alone the greatest, president.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin) was a product of the philosophy of his time. The traditional American idea was that people own the government. FDR believed that the government owns the people. FDR’s fundamental beliefs are the antithesis of what made America great.
The term "righteous wind" used in Obama’s speech just isn't heard every day, but a search found it in this quote from Chairman Mao:
“The ill wind of opportunism is falling, the righteous wind of socialism is on the rise.” Coincidence?
We’re told that Barack Obama chose the obscure locale of Osawatomie, Kansas, for his recent domestic policy speech because it was the site of a seminal Teddy Roosevelt speech 101 years ago. This may very well be true. Through the distinctively named city of 4,500, Obama could make a symbolic connection with the man who once offered Americans a Hamiltonian conception of state power dubbed the “New Nationalism.” Yet, unbeknownst to virtually everyone, Obama is connected to “Osawatomie” through another man.
It’s a connection that’s odd and alarming — and at least a bit spooky.
I didn’t know about this connection when I wrote my recent article about the President’s communist ties. But just to provide some background, I pointed out how Obama claimed in Osawatomie that our relatively free market system not only “doesn’t work,” “it has never worked.” Furthermore, I mentioned the fact that the President has appointed avowed communists to his administration, that he was mentored by communist Frank Marshall Davis, that a contemporary of his at Occidental College said that Obama was a flat-out “Marxist-Leninist” during his time there, and that he has no known history of renouncing these views. More to the point here, however, I mentioned well-known Obama closet skeleton and self-proclaimed communist Bill Ayers, who, as you probably know, was a Weather Underground terrorist in the 1970s. Now, to get exactly to the point, I’d like you to take a gander at the following image and see what jumps out at you.
This was the official newsletter of the terroristic Weather Underground Organization; this particular issue sports a picture of Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist leader Ho Chi Minh on the cover. And, as you can see, the name of this communist publication is “Osawatomie.”
Just like the place where Obama decided to give a speech in which he cast doubt upon the merits of economic freedom.
Now, I’m not one to jump to conclusions. To paraphrase Confucius, “Wisdom is, when you know something, knowing that you know it; and when you do not know something, knowing that you do not know it.” It’s certainly possible that Obama is completely unaware of the Weathermen terrorist Osawatomie newsletter; this is, after all, the man who indicated that the U.S. had 58 states and didn’t even correct himself. And even if he does or did know about it, it is entirely possible that his choice of little Osawatomie could have been motivated by a desire to invoke Rough Rider Roosevelt and not recreant Reds. Yes… could have been.
But given Obama’s history, another possibility suggests itself to the open-minded.
Was there an extra layer of symbolism in his choice of speech venue, one of which only the “initiated” and those shouting in the wilderness would be aware?
Was the President sending a message to his long-time socialist allies?
“I’m still with you,” perhaps?
Is it akin to an inside joke?
Are the initiated laughing behind the backs of the gun-and-religion-clinging majority and everyone else who doesn’t “get it”?
Of course, some left-wingers will criticize anyone who raises such a possibility, just as they scored me for penning the article I linked to earlier. And this is one reason why prominent figures, be they media types or politicians, won’t dare mention that the emperor has red clothes. I mean, we just never could elect someone like that in America, could we?
Nah, it could never happen here.
And to suggest otherwise is to descend into paranoia at best or the politics of personal destruction at worst. Except, to quote liberal icon Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “You’re entitled to your own opinions, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” And it is a fact that the President of these United States has a history of making bedfellows of communists, most recently those he appointed to his administration.
If it matters that Newt Gingrich was unfaithful to his wives many years ago, it matters infinitely more that Barack Obama has been unfaithful to freedom and the American spirit by continuing, to this very day, his affair with a tyrannical, malevolent force that leaves nothing but the ruin of man in its wake.
Written by Selwyn Duke - Tuesday, 13 December 2011 13:11 – Posted at New American
So, now Obama is channeling Teddy Roosevelt… Touting a ‘Republican’ for Progressive values. Key word here – ‘Progressive.’ Hello… Synonymous with ‘Marxist and hey, this oldie but goodie, ‘Communism.’ Obama just slid out of ‘Socialist’ speak, straight into ‘Communism.’ Well, how warm and fuzzy is that? Beck was right again.
Video on site.
I would just like to remind everyone out there that Teddy Roosevelt FOUNDED the Progressive Party. Let’s take a look at sections of Obama’s speech yesterday:
Today, we are still home to the world’s most productive workers and innovative companies. But for most Americans, the basic bargain that made this country great has eroded. Long before the recession hit, hard work stopped paying off for too many people. Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed to the success of our economy actually benefitted from that success. Those at the very top grew wealthier from their incomes and investments than ever before. But everyone else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks that weren’t – and too many families found themselves racking up more and more debt just to keep up.
For many years, credit cards and home equity loans papered over the harsh realities of this new economy. But in 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We all know the story by now: Mortgages sold to people who couldn’t afford them, or sometimes even understand them. Banks and investors allowed to keep packaging the risk and selling it off. Huge bets – and huge bonuses – made with other people’s money on the line. Regulators who were supposed to warn us about the dangers of all this, but looked the other way or didn’t have the authority to look at all.
It was wrong. It combined the breathtaking greed of a few with irresponsibility across the system. And it plunged our economy and the world into a crisis from which we are still fighting to recover. It claimed the jobs, homes, and the basic security of millions – innocent, hard-working Americans who had met their responsibilities, but were still left holding the bag.
More of the same old ‘redistribute the wealth’ mentality that has gotten us into the mess we are in today. And it mixes truth with lies. I know firsthand what it means to have to short sell your home and THEN have to pay the bank 20k on top of it. I am living it, but it is my responsibility, NOT the government’s and I don’t expect anyone else to pay my debts. I know firsthand what it is like for your spouse to lose his job and look for work for a year, but we did it. I know firsthand what it is to have 50k in debt and refuse to declare bankruptcy and be determined to pay back every single penny. I know firsthand what is to lose everything and start over. And as of yesterday, I know firsthand what it is like to lose your health and dental insurance because of Obamacare. So, let’s be clear President Obama. You weren’t left holding the bag, Americans were left holding the bag. You are getting rich on the side while we struggle. But the majority of Americans keep true to their responsibilities and debts, which is a hell of a lot better than what I can say for our so-called leaders. Communists don’t shoulder the blame, they assign it.
Next:
Ever since, there has been a raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity; balance and fairness. Throughout the country, it has sparked protests and political movements – from the Tea Party to the people who have been occupying the streets of New York and other cities. It’s left Washington in a near-constant state of gridlock. And it’s been the topic of heated and sometimes colorful discussion among the men and women who are running for president.
But this isn’t just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, and secure their retirement.
Now, in the midst of this debate, there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of collective amnesia. After all that’s happened, after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. In fact, they want to go back to the same policies that have stacked the deck against middle-class Americans for too many years. Their philosophy is simple: we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules.
Oh, there’s a raging debate going on all right… But you are lying through your pearly whites over it. While the Tea Party is a genuine movement of the people of this great nation and the epitome of rugged individualism, Occupy Wall Street is an engineered Marxist ploy to create chaos in the streets so you can have your way with the Constitution and create an emergency that will solidify your iron grip on power over us. Before you were elected, America had the largest and freest middle class in the world. You sir, are actively destroying it for personal gain.
You got us into this depression. You are the one leading the charge to curtail our freedoms. Let’s get something straight here. Let me be blunt. I’m guilty of this too and did not even know it until I found out about our insurance yesterday. Not so long ago, people in America did not just take for granted you would get insurance through work. We didn’t expect our employers to cover us. If we had to get insurance or see a doctor or dentist, we figured it out. It’s another freebie we now expect and it is wrong.
Free benefits and easy credit are like heroin. Our Progressive leaders are more than happy to get us hooked on it. No one owes us insurance or a house or a job or an education. We are free to earn that for ourselves. But to accept just one hit of heroin is to become a slave to the dealer – the Progressives. That is why our parents and grandparents would never take a handout. Get it now? I don’t blame my husband’s employer. I’ll bet he went home last night after telling everyone and felt like hell. I think it costs him about 25k a month to cover everyone and under the new regs, it’s more likely to be 50k. Who the hell can afford that? I feel for the guy – this is not his responsibility. Get over it. It’s ours. If he hadn’t done that yesterday, many people would be out of a job today and that business might have closed it’s doors for good. If there is any blame here, blame the Progressives on both sides of the aisle, starting with Obama.
Next:
Well, I’m here to say they are wrong. I’m here to reaffirm my deep conviction that we are greater together than we are on our own. I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, and when everyone plays by the same rules. Those aren’t Democratic or Republican values; 1% values or 99% values. They’re American values, and we have to reclaim them.
You see, this isn’t the first time America has faced this choice. At the turn of the last century, when a nation of farmers was transitioning to become the world’s industrial giant, we had to decide: would we settle for a country where most of the new railroads and factories were controlled by a few giant monopolies that kept prices high and wages low? Would we allow our citizens and even our children to work ungodly hours in conditions that were unsafe and unsanitary? Would we restrict education to the privileged few? Because some people thought massive inequality and exploitation was just the price of progress.
Theodore Roosevelt disagreed. He was the Republican son of a wealthy family. He praised what the titans of industry had done to create jobs and grow the economy. He believed then what we know is true today: that the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history. It’s led to a prosperity and standard of living unmatched by the rest of the world.
But Roosevelt also knew that the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you want from whoever you can. It only works when there are rules of the road to ensure that competition is fair, open, and honest. And so he busted up monopolies, forcing those companies to compete for customers with better services and better prices. And today, they still must. He fought to make sure businesses couldn’t profit by exploiting children, or selling food or medicine that wasn’t safe. And today, they still can’t.
Let’s talk about Roosevelt, shall we? He started the Progressive movement. He was a Progressive on the right. Progressive equals Communist. Do the math. Roosevelt preached collectivism and was an anti-capitalist. I don’t give a damn which side of the aisle he was on. You might as well go with the Russian Constitution, because the American one is the absolute opposite of what Obama is preaching in the name of Roosevelt. And don’t forget, Roosevelt led to Woodrow Wilson getting elected. If we get another four years of Obama’s Marxist ways, we are kaput as a nation. Done. How I long for Calvin Coolidge.
Fairness for all, equals fairness for none. Can’t people see that? You can’t regulate fairness. A free and open society where you are free to succeed or fail is the only way to prosper. Our founding fathers knew that. Our treasonous leaders know it too. Obama and his toadies have taken the freest and most prosperous nation in the world and have regulated them to death and crushed our Constitution.
Next:
In 1910, Teddy Roosevelt came here, to Osawatomie, and laid out his vision for what he called a New Nationalism. “Our country,” he said, “…means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy…of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him.”
For this, Roosevelt was called a radical, a socialist, even a communist. But today, we are a richer nation and a stronger democracy because of what he fought for in his last campaign: an eight hour work day and a minimum wage for women; insurance for the unemployed, the elderly, and those with disabilities; political reform and a progressive income tax.
Obama’s ‘new nationalism’ will more closely resemble 1930′s Germany and not America. To ‘guarantee’ success, is to ‘guarantee’ mediocrity and slavery. That is the only success that comes of such mandates. Competition and striving to be better is the only thing that produces true success. It is not a trophy for all.
I can’t take it any more. Lie after lie after lie. You can read the rest of the speech here. I suggest you have receptacle handy to vomit in. I choose freedom over nationalism. I choose to be a capitalist over a communist.
The rest of the speech goes on blaming America in general for losing jobs overseas. Actually, Obama’s policies have driven most of those jobs and employers out of the country. Good jobs and a strong economy are created by less taxation, smaller government and, horrors, capitalism. Class warfare, collectivism, wealth redistribution and Marxism are a short road to hell. Set America free Obama! Stop trying to take your ‘square deal‘ and shove it in a round hole.
Looking to channel Theodore Roosevelt, President Obama will deliver an economic speech Tuesday and cite the importance of everyone paying their “fair share.”
Obama will travel to Osawatomie, Kansas to make the remarks — the site of the progressive Republican Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism” speech in 1910.
The White House confirmed the Roosevelt connection in a press release, stating, “Just over one hundred years ago, President Teddy Roosevelt came to Osawatomie, Kansas and called for a New Nationalism, where everyone gets a fair chance, a square deal, and an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Obama will “talk about how he sees this as a make-or-break moment for the middle class and all those working to join it,” the statement said. “He’ll lay out the choice we face between a country in which too few do well while too many struggle to get by, and one where we’re all in it together – where everyone engages in fair play, everyone does their fair share, and everyone gets a fair shot.”
Business Insider, which described it as “a huge class warfare speech,” has more on the Obama-Roosevelt connection:
“The essence of any struggle for healthy liberty has always been, and must always be, to take from some one man or class of men the right to enjoy power, or wealth, or position, or immunity, which has not been earned by service to his or their fellows,” Roosevelt said. “That is what you fought for in the Civil War, and that is what we strive for now.”
Roosevelt called out special interests who pulled the strings of government — a message we’ll likely hear Obama adopt.
“Class warfare” became a buzzword in September after Obama proposed the “Buffett rule” tax rate on the wealthy. As Republican opposition rang in, Obama responded by declaring, “This is not class warfare. It’s math.” He shifted positions just two days later, saying of the class warfare jab, “I wear that charge as a badge of honor.”
The Progressive Movement emerging almost as a cancer cell in the United States in late 19th century and into the 20th century in response to the vast changes brought on by industrialization. In some ways it appeared to be a sprinkle of good and bad spices for an economic recipe for some unethical industrialization issues. It became an alternative to the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues of the times. An ideology that changed directions several times as it became a more radical stream of socialism opposing the conservative views.
The ‘Progressive Party’ (American Progressivism) quickly organized at the start of the 20th century when it insisted that clearing city governments of corruption and freeing state governments from control by big business. Middle-class Americans became reformers from fear of wealth and power of the great financiers. The Progressive Movement grew in part under the leadership of Robert M. La Follette when elected Republican governor of Wisconsin in 1900. He pushed for laws that regulated railroads and public utilities, developed a fair tax system, conserved the state’s natural resources, and gave some protection to industrial workers. By 1918 the Progressives helped the adoption of the secret ballot and bad corruption at the polls. The Progressive movement helped set up commissions designed to strictly regulate corporations, and were active in the political influence for support of women’s suffrage laws (Scott, Forman, United States History).
The Progressive movement made great strides in electing Presidents Theodore Roosevelt a Republican. Who endorsed a progressive income tax, and called for national health insurance. Teddy Roosevelt gave a speech titled “The Nationalism”, in talking about personal property, “subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it.” In February, 1902 he had the attorney general file suit against Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which appeared to attack Wall Street bankers and the financial empire. In 1904, the Supreme Court ruled that the Northern Securities Company had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. The U.S. Senate’s passed a resolution on Article X of League of Nations Covenant. The U.S. House of Representatives moves to curtail immigration.
During Roosevelt second term he pushed for passed the Hepburn Act, regulating the railroads broadening the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission giving authority over express companies, and pipeline companies that set maximum rates. He also promoted passing the ‘Pure Food and Drug Act’ and ‘Meat-Inspection Act’ which empowered inspectors from Department of Agriculture to go into packinghouses. President Theodore Roosevelt served from 1901-1909, as a ‘Progressive Republican’ who increased governments influence over the economy, known later to be against big corporations, and a crusader for conservation creating national parks, and wildlife refuges (McGerr, Michael 2003).
From 1909-1913, William H. Taft a Progressive Republican took office and turned conservative. This caused a split of the Republican Party into ‘Conservative Republicans’, and ‘Progressive Republicans’, when he refused to support Progressive Republican and Democrat congressman on a bill that would limit the power of a conservative Speaker of the House of Representatives Joseph Cannon to merely a presiding officer. This is the turning point in history when the Progressive Republicans sided with the Democrat Party (Scott, Forman, United States History, 1974).
The Democrats too, had battled with moving toward the Progressive reform when they nominated Woodrow Wilson a ‘Progressive Democrat’ who won 42 percent of the Republican Progressive vote. Wilson believed government had no restriction on power. “For it is very clear,” he said, “that in fundamental theory socialism and democracy are almost if not quite one and the same.” Wilson in 1913 passed the ‘Underwood Tariff Act’ that called for lower tariff’s to bring European goods into competition with American products. To offset the expected government revenue loss from the tariff, Wilson put in a graduated federal income tax bill that marked the beginning of the countries complex tax system. Wilson created the Federal Reserve Act, supervised by a Board of Governors appointed by the President to serve a fourteen year term. In 1914, he signed the Federal Trade Commission Act setting a commission that could investigate industries suspected of violating antitrust laws along with the Clayton Antitrust Act. He also passed the Adamson Act giving railroad workers an eight-hour day at the rate of a ten-hour day (Scott, Forman, United States History, 1974). Probably one of the best books on American Progressivism is Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liveralism...
In 1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson became the 28th President of the United States. The Progressivism seemed to have drifted away after Wilson’s presidential term because of World War I. It later reorganized under a new Progressive party with Robert M. La Follette in 1924. He was supported by western farmers, organized labor, and socialists. Henry A. Wallace who became the head figure for the new Progressive Party attracted left-wingers bringing it into the Democrat Party.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States from March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. With Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft dividing the Republican Party vote, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912.
In his first term, Wilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and America's first-ever federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913. Wilson brought many white Southerners into his administration, and tolerated their expansion of segregation in many federal agencies.
Narrowly re-elected in 1916, Wilson's second term centered on World War I. He based his re-election campaign around the slogan "he kept us out of the war," but U.S. neutrality was challenged in early 1917 when the German government proposed to Mexico a military alliance in a war against the U.S., and began unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking without warning every American merchant ship its submarines could find. Wilson in April 1917 asked Congress to declare war.
He focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the Army. On the home front in 1917, he began the United States' first draft since the US civil war, raised billions in war funding through Liberty Bonds, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, enacted the first federal drug prohibition, and suppressed anti-war movements. National women's suffrage was also achieved under Wilson's presidency.
In the late stages of the war, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany, including the armistice. He issued his Fourteen Points, his view of a post-war world that could avoid another terrible conflict. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1919, during the bitter fight with the Republican-controlled Senate over the U.S. joining the League of Nations, Wilson collapsed with a debilitating stroke. He refused to compromise, effectively destroying any chance for ratification. In 1920 the 19th Amendment gives American women the right to vote.
The League of Nations was established anyway, but the United States never joined. A Presbyterian of deep religious faith, he appealed to a gospel of service and infused a profound sense of moralism into Wilsonianism. Wilson's idealistic internationalism, now referred to as "Wilsonianism", which calls for the United States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, has been a contentious position in American foreign policy, serving as a model for "idealists" to emulate and "realists" to reject ever since (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson).
Warren G Harding (1865-1923) elected 29th President of the United States, and was inaugurated in 1921. In 1922 the U.S. Congressional election reduced Republican majority. In 1923, U.S. President W.G. Harding succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge (The Timetable of History, Grun, 1975).
Later President Franklin Delano Roosevelt a Democrat 1933-1945, picked up the Progressive movement, and included Wallace as Vice president. Harry Truman became another Progressive Democrat President in 1945-1953.
FDR was the only American president elected to more than two terms, he was often referred to by his initials, FDR. Roosevelt won his first of four presidential elections in 1932, while the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. FDR's combination of optimism and economic activism is often credited with keeping the country's economic crisis from developing into a political crisis. He led the United States through most of World War II, and died in office of a cerebral hemorrhage, shortly before the war ended.
Roosevelt named his approach to the economic situation the New Deal; it consisted of legislation pushed through Congress as well as executive orders. Executive orders included the bank holiday declared when he first came to office; legislation created new government agencies, such as the Works Progress Administration and the National Recovery Administration, with the intent of creating new jobs for the unemployed. Other legislation provided direct assistance to individuals, such as the Social Security Act. As World War II began in 1939, with Japanese occupation of countries on the western Pacific rim and the rise of Hitler in Germany, FDR kept the US on an ostensibly neutral course. In March 1941, Roosevelt provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany, with Great Britain the recipient of the most assistance. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt immediately asked for and received a declaration of war against Japan. Germany subsequently declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. The nearly total mobilization of the US economy to support the war effort caused a rapid economic recovery.
Roosevelt dominated the American political scene, not only during the twelve years of his presidency, but for decades afterwards. FDR's coalition melded together such disparate elements as Southern whites and African Americans in the cities of the North. Roosevelt's political impact also resonated on the world stage long after his death, with the United Nations and Bretton Woods as examples of his administration's wide ranging impact. Roosevelt is rated by historians as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
Latter Lyndon Baines Johnson a Democrat followed in the Progressive movement after the death of JFK with social ideologies in 1963-1969. Each of these presidents grew the government, adding more regulations, and taxes.
The progressive movement under Franklin D. Roosevelt took root under the ‘New Deal’ which falsely became the solution for the ‘Great Depression’ when in fact all it did was slow down the natural course of the free market recovery caused by the Great Depression. An economic depression as a result of World War II, brought about by a global economy with a slowdown in trading and barrowing (Schiff, Peter 2009).
By definition, “Progressivism is a political and social term that refers to ideologies and movements favoring or advocating changes or reform, usually in a statist or egalitarian direction for economic policies (government management) and liberal direction for social policies (personal choice). Progressivism is often viewed in opposition to conservative ideologies.”
(www.wikapedia.com). The definition of ‘progressive tax’, “A type of graduated tax which applies higher tax rates as the income of the taxpayer increases.” (Blacks Law Dictionary).
The early Progressive movement under Wilson, and Roosevelt were Socialist. However the new Progressive movement has been taken over by Communist under President Obama. Many members of the new Progressives are products of the SDS (Students for Democratic Society) of 1963-1969 were and are Communist. There seems to be a split between Socialist progressives, and Communist Progressives. Many of the Democrats in the House, and Senate are products of the Socialist. They are being used as a vehicle of Communist agenda under President Obama, Pelosi, and Reed. These three are the product of the SDS movement who are supports of Mao, and the Communist (Little red Book of Mao) supporters. They are followers of the writings of Cloward and Piven and Saul Alinsky, which include the belief in the practice of eugenics (eugenics light: death panels as part of healthcare and harvesting organs without your permission) and the belief that anything is fair as long as you get to the end you desire.
The free market creates more wealth and opportunities for more people than any other economic model. A Capitalist system developed by Adam Smith, studied by the founding fathers of the US constitution now destined to be forgotten by both political parties because of greed, or political influence. Yet the greatest economic challenges that face the free market economy today stems at the beginning of the ‘Progressive Movement’ now considered a slippery slope towards authoritarian tyranny that influences both political parties like a cancer. The free market economy in the United States is presently at risk from an out-of-control government that is quickly adapting a socialist system or nationalization. President George Washington warned against the political parties during his farewell address in 1796.
Since January, 2009 the US House of representative and the US Senate both controlled by the Democrat Party including the President of the United States. The Democratic Party has based its foundation on the format of higher taxes, excessive spending, and bigger government. Under the ‘Liberal Democrat Party now calling themselves ‘Progressives’, will result in the high cost of doing business, which tends to be passed along to the general public for its products and services. Investment is down because of too many unknowns in today’s market, and economy.
The present economic depression is the result of over spending, corruption, energy cost, and bad bank loans because of radicals, ACORN, and the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act). The ‘Great Depression’ started in a different way from today’s depression, and the results are similar. Like most cancers the Progressive Movement begins to spread left under now President Obama when he re-energized the Democratic Party. In this case it becomes a rapid spread of larger government, more regulations, and higher taxes, as it eats away the healthily tissue, the heart of the free market economy and the capitalist system through nationalization. The ever increasing cost of minimum wage, unemployment security taxes, city and state taxes regulations, job loss, stock market downfall, less spending, and nationalization of banks are some of the leading causes of a poor US economy found today.
On February 13, 2009, the debt was raised to $12.104 trillion, by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5 (section 1604). The annual interest payment on the national debt is estimated over $350 billion a year. By 2019, an annual interest payment on the national debt is projected to hit $810 billion (CBO, 2009). This is based on President Obama not passing the proposed congressional plan for a second stimulus package plus nationalized health care that could clap the US economy.
President Ronald Reagan on his first inaugural address said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Glenn Beck: "I Think John McCain Would Have Been Worse for the Country than Barack Obama"
I do not know what Glenn will say later today about why he said McCain Would Have Been Worse for the Country than Obama… but I think his explanation might be that they are both Progressives (Obama probably being more of a socialist or even Marxist if you go by his own words… ‘judge me by the company I keep’.), but once people started paying attention to the radical policies and radicals surrounding the President in the White House, they would figure it all out and stand-up for themselves and America… which they have and are. Whereas John McCain appears more middle of the road or moderate and is a closet progressive, so nobody would have noticed until we were far down the road…
In both the 2004 and 2008 elections, the American People had the choice of the lesser of two evils in many ways. George Bush was a globalist , John McCain is a progressive, and John Kerry and Barack Obama are pretty much cut from the same clothe with ties to the same scary radical groups (Tides Foundation,etc). The Clintons and George Bush Sr. are also globalists or transnationalists.
If we really want a president with traditional and constitutional values that will put our country first , we need to do our homework on the candidates and vote with our heads… There are options to the same old same old that we have had the choice of and elected for years now ; those who have taken us down the road that most Americans didn’t want to go.
It is time to look at the Mitt Romneys, Sarah Palins, Mike Huckabees, Tim Pawlentys and Newt Gingrichs to name a few, as well as fresh names and faces.
It is also time to pay attention to what our children and grandchildren are learning in school, watching on TV and the music they are listening to. All these things are part of the dumbing down of America, that has been methodically happening for years now and feeds into the grander scheme…
I guess we’ll find out if Glenn has additional of different thoughts on McCain vs. Obama when this spot airs later today…
Watch CBS Videos Online - The entire show can be seen on CBSNews.com later today, Wednesday 9/23/09
In her new CBSNews.com show @katiecouric, the CBS Evening News anchor sat down with Fox News host Glenn Beck. Beck, who has been one of Pres. Obama's fiercest and most vocal critics, says last year's GOP nominee, John McCain, "would have been worse."
One of the biggest feelings voiced right now in America is confusion; confusion over where our country is headed and what category it falls into because it sure isn’t democracy or capitalism. Is it fascism? Is it socialism? What is Progressivism? Interesting discussions... which is great. One of the failings in our recent society has been the inability of people with differing opinions to discuss politics, religion, and current events, let alone do so while remaining civil and even friends. The progressive movement in this country (the USA) and fear of being considered politically incorrect has stopped people from talking for years now.
In order to really decide whether we are being moved toward socialism or fascism requires some watching and studying which is why people have appeared to jump back and forth in their reporting and opinions. George B Miller, I believe, who responded that:
"Simply put…
Fascism is: When the people own the businesses and those businesses are entirely controlled by government.
Socialism is: When the government owns all businesses.
So yes this (our) government is rapidly becoming fascist"
Perhaps explained it best…
This is his very basic explanation, but pretty right on. And the realization that the greatest democracy and truest embodiment of capitalism and individual freedoms is dying daily without a fight is finally stirring the hearts and souls of Middle America, especially those who experienced the Great Depression, lived through World War I, World War II, the Korea War and the Vietnam war, are spilling their blood for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, plus those who realize that 9/11 will not be the last event of its kind if we don’t wake up. I was a political science major and am quite a student of history and can see the handwriting clearly on the wall. And as realities that were predicted by people often considered “on the fringe” like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, who can be somewhat dramatic at times, become more and more evident or just plain true you can see people on Main Street USA standing up and speaking out.
Fox News, in all forms, has become the number one news outlet beating left leaning outlets like MSNBC, NBC News and CNN and everyone else in the dust. Bill O’Reilly of Fox has been the number one cable news program for 100 months or 8+ years in a row. Why? …Because he reports the news fairly and without much ‘spin’. Fox’s Beck and Hannity and radio’s conservative king, Limbaugh, are definitely more right leaning, but are very knowledgeable and attract lots of people who know their politics, history and current events. They are a balance to the constant left leaning “supposed mainstream” media who aren’t honest enough to tell you that they are reporting the news from a liberal pro-Obama spin and ignoring news they don’t like. In reality, having people like Glenn Beck, a libertarian, and conservatives like Limbaugh and Hannity on the scene is healthy for balance because what you hear from the every day media is not impartial, but left leaning coverage and editorials without admission.
The National Debt now exceeds 11 TRILLION dollars. The interest on the money is and increases by 1.2 Million dollars every day. That is more than the Gross National Product. By 2012 at the current rate of government borrowing the national debt will exceed 20 trillion. This country is now bankrupt. We are loaning ourselves money we do not have and becoming debtors to the world. The government says we have a financial system that is to big to fail. Yet, this financial system is designed to fail. We owe more in interest than we are taking in. And we are printing money that has no value. The country is doing what most people in financial trouble do; taking out another credit card to pay off the other credit cards. How this is done is the government borrows money from the Federal Reserve. Of course the Federal Reserve has no money either, so they have to create it. The creation of new money makes the existing money worth less. Has anyone noticed a recent increase in prices by about 20% since January 2009? So we pay off our creditors with money that is worth less than the money we borrowed. How soon is it going to be before our creditors stop loaning us money and demand repayment? Creditors like China, Europe, India, etc.
The absolute best thing that could happen in this country is to have our current financial system totally fail. Then we can start over with our forefathers’ original idea. Put the power to create this nations currency back in the hands of the people via the Department of the Treasury, and outlaw usury. Instead we are watching the government nationalize our banks right in front of eyes. Forcing banks to take TARP money that didn’t need it and now not letting banks and other companies pay back their loans is part of a much bigger plan.
I keep hearing that the American public will not standing for or tolerate a dictatorship; our democratic views won’t allow it... Yet we are daily both voluntarily and by the actions of the Obama administration and liberal Congress decrees giving away our rights and agreeing to things that are the exact opposite of democratic views. And the average American is just beginning to notice what is happening or wants to wait and see. The people that have noticed joined the Tax Day Tea Parties and other Grassroots Movements like the9/12Project.com (started by Glenn Beck). A fact to remember is that Hitler (leading a Fascist government) was voted in and the laws that let him move forward were also voted in or allowed to be put into place legally.
We should all be screaming at the top of our lungs to stop... but we are not. No freedom or right should ever be given up to the government in the name security; those kinds of relinquishments are never temporary. We need to stand up now for every right given us, the people of the United States, by the Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights and we should be speaking out against all these "global" initiatives which diminish our sovereignty as well.
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”…Thomas Jefferson
For more on the Progressives, two of my books may be of interest:
1)American Progressivism, which I co-edited with American historian William Atto, contains a basic introduction to progressive ideas written by Professor Atto and me, and then several selections from the actual writings of Progressives like Wilson, TR: Teddy Roosevelt, Dewey, Croly, and others.
2)Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism...which is a much more in-depth look at Woodrow Wilson and how he was central to originating the liberalism that dominates America today. This is for those who are really interested in history and political theory.
As I explained in my last piece, the Progressives wanted to disregard the Constitution in order to enlarge vastly the scope of government. As a practical matter, how was this to be done? It happened in a variety of ways, but principal among them was a fundamental change in the American presidency.
Under the system of our founders, government was to have sufficient strength and energy to accomplish its ends, but those ends were strictly limited by the Constitution. The principal way in which the Constitution keeps the government within its boundaries is through the separation of powers. As readers of The Federalist and of Thomas Jefferson know, the point of separation of powers is to keep any one set of hands from wielding all of the power in national government.
The Progressives, especially Woodrow Wilson, hated the separation of powers for precisely this reason: it made government inefficient, and made it difficult, if not impossible, to expand the power of government so that it could take on all of the new tasks that Progressives had in mind. So they looked to the presidency as a way of getting around this obstacle.
Under the original system, the president was merely leader of a single branch, or part, of the government, and thus could not provide leadership of the government as a whole. In his book Constitutional Government, Wilson urged that “leadership and control must be lodged somewhere.” The president, Wilson pointed out, was the only politician who could claim to speak for the people as a whole, and thus he called upon the president to rise above the separation of powers – to consider himself not merely as chief of a single branch of government, but as the popular leader of the whole of national politics. Wilson even contrasted the “constitutional aspect” of the presidency – its constitutionally defined role as chief of one of the three co-equal branches of government – to the “political” function of the president, where he could use his connection to public opinion as a tool for moving all of the branches of government in the direction called for by the people.
It was in this way that Wilson believed the original intention of the separation of powers system could be circumvented, and the enhanced presidency could be a means energizing the kind of active national government that the progressive agenda required.
In the next piece, we’ll consider whether the principles of the Progressives made them socialists.
For more on the Progressives, two of my books may be of interest:
1) American Progressivism, which I co-edited with American historian William Atto, contains a basic introduction to progressive ideas written by Professor Atto and me, and then several selections from the actual writings of Progressives like Wilson, TR, Dewey, Croly, and others.
2) Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism... which is a much more in-depth look at Woodrow Wilson and how he was central to originating the liberalism that dominates America today. This is for those who are really interested in history and political theory.
The Progressives and their Attack on America’s Founding
As I mentioned in my last piece, America’s Progressives aimed for a thorough transformation in America’s principles of government. While our founders understood that our national government must have the capacity to be strong and vigorous (this is why the Articles of Confederation were failing), they also were very clear that this strength must always be confined to very limited ends or areas of responsibility; government, in other words, while not weak or tiny, was to be strictly limited.
The Progressive conception of government, on the other hand, was quite the opposite; Progressives had an “evolving” or a “living” notion of government (yes, we get the term “living constitution” from the Progressives), and thus wanted government to take on whatever role and scope the times demanded. The Progressives reasoned that people of the founding era may have wanted a limited government, given their particular experience with George III, but they argued that people of their own time wanted a much more activist government, and that we should adjust accordingly.
Quite simply, the Progressives detested the bedrock principles of American government. They detested the Declaration of Independence, which enshrines the protection of individual natural rights (like property) as the unchangeable purpose of government; and they detested the Constitution, which places permanent limits on the scope of government and is structured in a way that makes the extension of national power beyond its original purpose very difficult. “Progressivism” was, for them, all about progressing, or moving beyond, the principles of our founders.
This is why the Progressives were the first generation of Americans to denounce openly our founding documents. Woodrow Wilson, for example, once warned that “if you want to understand the real Declaration of Independence, do not repeat the preface” – i.e. that part of the Declaration which talks about securing individual natural rights as the only legitimate purpose of government. And Theodore Roosevelt, when using the federal government to take over private businesses during the 1902 coal strike, is reported to have remarked, “To hell with the Constitution when people want coal!” This remark may be apocryphal, but it is a fair representation of how TR viewed these matters.
In the next piece, we’ll consider how the presidency was transformed under men like Wilson and TR.
For more on the Progressives, two of my books may be of interest:
1) American Progressivism, which I co-edited with American historian William Atto, contains a basic introduction to progressive ideas written by Professor Atto and me, and then several selections from the actual writings of Progressives like Wilson, TR, Dewey, Croly, and others.
2) Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism... which is a much more in-depth look at Woodrow Wilson and how he was central to originating the liberalism that dominates America today. This is for those who are really interested in history and political theory.
Hopefully you will enjoy this four part explanation of American Progressivism. I’ll explain who the Progressives were and why they were important.
Many on the left today call themselves “progressive,” and they do so not just because it’s a nicer way of saying “liberal,” but also because they very much intend to revive the political principles of America’s original Progressives, from the Progressive Era of the 1880s through World War I. Why would leftist politicians, like Mrs. Clinton, purposely identify themselves with this Progressive movement?
The reason is that America’s original Progressives were also its original, big-government liberals. Most people point to the New Deal era as the source of big government and the welfare state that we have today. While this is perfectly accurate, it is important to understand that the principles of the New Deal did not originate in the New Deal; rather, they came from the Progressives, who had dominated American politics and intellectual cultural a generation prior to the New Deal.
We have no less an authority on this connection than Franklin Roosevelt himself. When FDR campaigned in 1932, he pointed to the Progressives – and in particular to Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson – as the source of his ideas about government.
In terms of the personalities who made up the Progressive movement, some are familiar to us and others are less so. The movement was comprised of well known politicians like Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt; but it was also comprised of intellectuals and writers who are less well known but who have been very influential in America. There were folks like John Dewey, who was America’s public philosopher for much of the early 20th century. Even less well known was Herbert Croly, but Croly was highly influential, since he founded and was the first editor of TheNew Republic – which became the main organ of Progressive opinion in the United States, and is still one of the most important journals on the Left today. I should add here that Woodrow Wilson actually fell into both of these categories – he was both a well known politician and president, but also was, for decades prior to his entry into politics, a prominent intellectual (a college professor and president of Princeton) who wrote many books and influential articles.
As I’ll explain in my next piece, these Progressives wanted a thorough transformation in America’s principles of government, from a government permanently dedicated to securing individual liberty to one whose ends and scope would change to take on any and all social and economic ills. Here’s the order of the points we’ll consider in the pieces to follow:
1) What did Progressives think about the American founding, and why did they want to eradicate its principles?
2) How did we get today’s excessively powerful presidency from the Progressives?
3) What was the connection between Progressivism and Socialism? Were the Progressives actually Socialists?
4) What are some of the critical connections between Progressivism and what’s going on in our country today?
For more on the Progressives, two of my books may be of interest:
1) American Progressivism, which I co-edited with American historian William Atto, contains a basic introduction to progressive ideas written by Professor Atto and me, and then several selections from the actual writings of Progressives like Wilson, TR, Dewey, Croly, and others.
2) Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism... which is a much more in-depth look at Woodrow Wilson and how he was central to originating the liberalism that dominates America today. This is for those who are really interested in history and political theory.
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the obscure locale of Osawatomie, Kansas, for his recent domestic policy speech because it was the site of a seminal Teddy Roosevelt speech 101 years ago. This may very well be true. Through the distinctively named city of 4,500, Obama could make a symbolic connection with the man who once offered Americans a Hamiltonian conception of state power dubbed the “New Nationalism.” Yet, unbeknownst to virtually everyone, Obama is connected to “Osawatomie” through another man.
Underground Organization; this particular issue sports a picture of Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist leader Ho Chi Minh on the cover. And, as you can see, the name of this communist publication is “Osawatomie.”
