Progressivism

The Good Side Of The Election Results: Democracy In Action!

Ronald 2 Comments

For those of us who are progressives and liberals, the results of the midterm elections are a time for reflection and reorganization.

It is obvious there is a need for mid course correction by the Obama Administration, and certainly the battle for progressive principles is re-energized by the triumph of the Republican party in taking over the House of Representatives, gaining many seats in the US Senate, and taking over a substantial number of governorships.

But while we assess the results, which the author will do over a period of time in detail, we can all agree that we are fortunate to have the great democracy that we have that allows the American people to register their feelings and change government policies and personnel on a regular basis.

Even if at times the results are seen as disappointing, we can be thankful that we live in a nation where government can be changed without bullets or violence in other forms.

So as we move to the uncertain future, let us all keep a sense of sobriety and balance as the challenges we all face present themselves. And the fight for social justice will continue no matter how much opposition may now exist to the progressive agenda!

Interesting List Of Books That Have Impacted Congressional Action In Past Century!

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An interesting article by a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, Elham Khatami, for the website Congress.org, lists the most influential books that have been published in the past century and had impact on Congressional action!

All five books are of historic importance for sure! 🙂

The first chronologically is Upton Sinclair’s novel, THE JUNGLE, published in 1906. It was read by President Theodore Roosevelt, and it led to quick action on federal legislation on meat, food and drug inspection and protection. It was the beginning of government on the national level taking responsibility for the health and welfare of its citizens!

Next published was THE GRAPES OF WRATH, a famous novel by John Steinbeck, which portrayed the problem of poverty during the Great Depression, specifically in relation to farm workers. It led to covering farm workers under labor laws for the first time, during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Next was Michael Harrington’s nonfiction work, THE OTHER AMERICA, published in 1962, describing the wide extent of poverty in America, and not only of minorities, but also of rural whites! It spurred the movement toward the War On Poverty thought of by John F. Kennedy, and passed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson!

The fourth book was also nonfiction and also published in 1962, Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING, which dealt with the dangers of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, which were shown to pollute the soil, water and air. It led to the beginning of action under John F. Kennedy, continued under Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon, and led to the passage of environmental laws and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970!

The final book, also nonfiction, was Ralph Nader’s UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED, published in 1965. Dealing with automobile safety, it helped to lead to mandatory safety measures, and the creation of the Department of Transportation under Lyndon B. Johnson, as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission!

All of these significant books, and the reaction by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon, occurred during “progressive” periods of American history, and are a further repudiation of those, such as Glenn Beck, who constantly attack “progressivism”, despite its many contributions to the creation of a better, more humane America!

BP And Government: The Gulf Crisis Reveals The Need For True Progressivism!

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The continuing crisis over the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is making it very obvious what must be done, not just involving BP, but really all corporations, whether in energy, banking, automobiles, insurance, as well as all other industries and areas of the economy!

The answer is that the “sweetheart” deal between politicians and the capitalist business world MUST stop! If this is not a clear indication that we have allowed the aura of “capitalism” to dominate our political system, and allowed the glorification of unregulated business and industry to destroy our country, then what will finally convince us that the answer is NOT the Tea Party Movement that is anti government, but rather a “Government of the People, By the People, and For the People”!

We need a “progressive” government that will never again allow the kinds of abuses in all fields of capitalistic business and industry that led to the Great Depression of 1929-39, and again has led to the Great Recession of 2007 to who knows what year we will finally recover!

Tens of millions of Americans have become victims of unbridled capitalism and poor regulation! There is a place for private capitalism, but under strict regulation and oversight, with no corruption by government bureaucrats!

This is not calling for socialism or loss of economic freedom, but instead for economic and social responsibility of all fields of business and industry to the American people! We need to demand a responsive government, as well as a responsible capitalistic system that pursues the profit motive, but with a sense of ethics and morality, and the effects of what they do upon average Americans, who just want a fair shake and a chance to be part of the American dream!

Right now, in 2010, millions of Americans are being cheated, and being denied that opportunity, and that is a crime of massive proportions!

As the Progressives of the early 20th century advocated and pursued, we want a country with economic opportunity, social justice, and political democracy!

Glenn Beck, George W. Bush, And The Term “Progressive”!

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Talk show host Glenn Beck is at it again, continuing to distort history and the meaning of the word “progressive”!

According to this character, George W. Bush was a “progressive”! Is there anything more crazy than that assertion? 🙁

George W. Bush destroyed the environment during his administration!

George W. Bush undermined organized labor during his time in office!

George W. Bush abused civil liberties with the promotion of the Patriot Act!

George W. Bush undermined regulation of Wall Street and the corporations during his Presidency!

George W. Bush cut taxes on the wealthy and, as a result, the rich became richer, the poor became poorer, and the middle class was decimated!

George W. Bush doubled the national debt, with a good part of the debt increase being due to two undeclared wars that were sold to the American people as a question of national security, even though neither war has made our national security any more the reality for our nation!

George W. Bush undermined our relations with foreign nations, particularly what had been our close friendship with the Western European democracies!

The Presidents who have been seen as “progressive” were all Democrats from Woodrow Wilson onward, plus Theodore Roosevelt, who set the example for Wilson and other Democrats, and in some limited ways, Richard Nixon!

To call George W. Bush a “progressive” is enough to make one wonder if the person stating such is a “sane, rational” individual!

In the case of Glenn Beck, we know the answer to that question! 🙂 LOL

The Confusion Of The American People About The Purpose Of Government

Ronald 1 Comment

We have been hearing so much about the Tea Party Movement, which hates government, wants the government out of their lives, and feels overtaxed, despite the fact that taxes are the lowest they have been on the national level for 60 years!

Even those not allied with the Tea Party Movement seem to complain about government, and consider it not worthy of their trust.

And yet, whenever there is a problem, people look to their government! Government is necessary, and government is essential, but try to tell that to ignorant, emotional citizens who seem to think government IS the problem, a view promoted by Ronald Reagan and other Republicans for the past thirty years, as that party, in control of the Presidency for all that time except the eight years of Bill Clinton, and of Congress for twelve years, added tremendously to the national debt!

With all of that anger toward government, much of it totally irrational, now a Washington Post poll finds two thirds of those polled want MORE government regulation of the financial sector, just in time for the debate now beginning on regulation of that area of the economy!

And yet, so many people in polls complain that the government intervened to prevent what could have been a second Great Depression, in the Fall of 2008 under George W. Bush, and the Winter and Spring of 2009 under Barack Obama.

So what gives here? It is clear that a vast majority of Americans are acting like children in a temper tantrum! They want what they want from their “parents”, but yet resent their “parents” intervening! They also want what they individually want, but do not dare to care about other people!

This is selfishness, narrow mindedness, and greed–the ME attitude so well professed by Republicans and conservatives since the time of Ronald Reagan! They brought about this economic mess we are in, but when Barack Obama is trying to reform the system, the answer is to call him a Socialist and every other ridiculous libelous name, and yet also call for government intervention, which could very well be called Socialism, although it is NOT that!

Can the American people get their act straight, stop complaining, face the fact that we need government, and it is time to reject the naysayers who love to divide the American people and only promote what is best for the elite, not giving a damn for most of us?

In other words, let us not promote socialism, which is not what Barack Obama is attempting to do, but a new Progressive Era, where the government is of, by and for the people, instead of the corporations and the wealthy!

Glenn Beck Rewrites American History: The Big Lie Technique!

Ronald 10 Comments

Conservative Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck gave the keynote address last evening at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, and in so doing, he rewrote American history, creating his own distorted, warped view of the past.

Anyone who teaches or is a scholar of American history needs to condemn what he has done, as the use of lies and deception and false statistics to mislead the American people!

What did Glenn Beck have to say? Well, according to him, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were villains, while Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Ronald Reagan were heroes! The recession of 1920 was worse than the Great Depression of 1929 in the sense of economic statistics, but Harding and Coolidge saved the day, while Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt destroyed the economy and made things worse!

US involvement in World War I and World War II was wrong, as international involvement was not necessary, as we could retreat from the world and stop caring what other nations think and do!

The real culprit is Progressivism and Liberalism according to Beck. It all began with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, who decided that “big government” and “international cooperation” were essential. It continued under Herbert Hoover, who was a Progressive according to Hoover, and made worse by the ultimate Progressive and Liberal, Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Under Warren G. Harding and particularly Calvin Coolidge, the middle class became the largest in history it has ever been, according to Beck. Ronald Reagan knew his history, Beck declares, when he said Coolidge was his favorite President in the sense of economic success!

All of the above is totally whacko! The vast number of historians and scholars accept, of course, that ALL presidents have their definite shortcomings, blunders, and weaknesses, and a true historical assessment always balances pro and con. Certainly, this author accepts that one must understand the complexity of Presidential personalities and deeds and statements.

But, it is a fact that Theodore Roosevelt is rated in most polls Number 4 among Presidents; Woodrow Wilson is rated a little lower down in the top ten of Presidents; Franklin D. Roosevelt is rated Number 2 or 3 among all Presidents; and Herbert Hoover is rated as being a Conservative, not a Progressive, and as either a failure, or certainly below average in his time in the Presidency.

Warren G. Harding is rated a failure in the White House, in the bottom five; Calvin Coolidge is rated at best as below average, sometimes below Hoover and sometimes just above Hoover, as he is blamed for the economic policies that caused the Great Depression, while Hoover is primarily blamed for slow reaction to the reality of the Depression.

Wilson and FDR had to take us into World Wars I and II, as Germany in both wars and Japan in the Second World War were real threats to our national security. Certainly, however, neither one rushed to take us to war, but events forced the issue.

To say that the Recession of 1920 was worse in many ways than the early days of the Great Depression is a mind boggling statement that has never been enunciated by any serious economist or historian!

Ronald Reagan is rated as above average by historians, usually the bottom of the top ten or just below that. But one must remember that his economic policies harmed the middle class, made for a new growth of poverty, and his tripling of the national debt was the beginning of the debt crisis we now face. Remember, our national debt was one trillion dollars when he came in, and three trillion when he left, and a good part of our present problem is due to him and another “conservative” President named George W. Bush!

Also, realize that the national debt grew far less under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, than under Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush!

So Glenn Beck is promoting what was once called the Big Lie technique. If you are creative enough in lying, and know how to deliver a speech and impress your listeners, as Glenn Beck has the talent to do, you are indeed dangerous!

Oh, by the way, in conclusion, who is famous for utilizing the Big Lie? A man named ADOLF HITLER! 🙁

Time To Honor Robert LaFollette, Sr. And Ted Kennedy Together!

Ronald Leave a comment

The passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, the great spokesman for modern American liberalism, brings to mind the exceptional career of the late Senator Robert LaFollette, Sr, “Mr. Progressive”, of the early 20th century Progressive Era.

Coming to the Senate about two thirds of a century apart, Kennedy and LaFollette both came to personify the fight for social justice, regulation of corporations, and political reform. One was a Democrat from Massachusetts, while the other was a Republican from Wisconsin, but despite their large separation by time, they both personified the best in the American tradition of caring about others and standing for change to promote an equitable society.

Earlier this year, Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, himself a model of modern progressivism and liberalism, sponsored a bill which was also supported in its introduction by Senators Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and–get this–Senator Ted Kennedy himself—to honor LaFollette with the minting of a silver commemorative coin regarding his life and legacy–in the year 2011. Along with the US Mint coin, a separate proposal called for the Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded to LaFollette posthumously by the President of the United States.

This is a brilliant idea and needs to move forward, but I propose both bills be modified, so that the US Mint coin and the Congressional Gold Medal be awarded not just to Senator LaFollette, but also to Senator Ted Kennedy, who LaFollette, were he alive today, would be very appreciative of the continuation of his vision by the liberal Democrat from Massachusetts.

This proposal to honor both LaFollette and Kennedy is a non partisan bill, with its purpose to appreciate the progressive and liberal tradition and promote its continuation, with very possibly Senator Russ Feingold as its new champion and leader. We need such leadership in Congress, but supported in full by President Barack Obama.

The death of Senator Ted Kennedy is time to gather the forces of change and make this sad event a moment to recharge for the many battles and struggles ahead. Onward to greater accomplishments! 🙂

Is Liberalism Dead With The Passing Of Ted Kennedy?

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With the death of the venerated Senator Ted Kennedy, there is much debate as to whether the liberalism that he so aggressively promoted dies with him.

My answer is NO, and also that we, as a nation, cannot afford to allow the concept of social justice, promoting a level playing field, regulating corporations in the public interest, and working to democratize our political system, to disappear.

We have come too far in the past century to go back to the concept of laissez faire economics, and to Social Darwinism and corporate monopoly–that is, back to the mentality of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century and to the equally conservative era of the 1920s and the 1980s.

We cannot allow the Reagan philosophy that goverment is the problem to predominate, as government is the only way to promote necessary political reform, economic competition, and social change.

Leaving everyone to their own selfish interests would mean a repudiation of everything Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson worked so hard for with the Square Deal, the New Freedom, the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society. It would also be a rejection of prominent legislators of both parties–such as Robert LaFollette, Sr, George Norris, Robert Wagner, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Paul Wellstone, and Ted Kennedy–who dedicated their congressional careers to the advancement of their fellow citizens.

Progressive and liberal thought and action have brought about the great reforms that have improved our country in the past century, and we cannot allow Ted Kennedy’s death to be portrayed as the end of progressivism and liberalism.

Kennedy’s passing, instead, must be a clarion call to rededicate ourselves to what he spent his whole life promoting–the vision of the Roosevelts, Wilson, the Kennedys and Lyndon Johnson–a better, more equitable and just society.

Barack Obama must take this moment to reassess his nice guy image, and start to use the aggressive tactics of FDR and LBJ to accomplish the great challenges of the future, beginning with universal health care! He can become in reality as well as image the new leader of progressive and liberal change, and the country demands it!