17th Amendment

The Parallel Universe Of Republicans And Conservatives On America’s Presidents Since Theodore Roosevelt

Ronald 2 Comments

The modern Republican Party and the conservative movement are working in tandem to distort American history, particularly regarding our Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, and in the process, are promoting the Big Lie technique, that if you repeat a falsehood enough times, people who are gullible and poorly informed and educated, will come to believe it!

So let’s survey the thoughts of these “mind control” advocates on our Presidents in the past century. Realize that what is said below is myth and propaganda, not to be believed and accepted as factual, which it MOST certainly is NOT!

Theodore Roosevelt was a so called Republican, but he created a monster, the beginning of a powerful, assertive Presidency. He interfered in labor negotiations in the coal industry; started interference in business through lawsuits and federal regulatory laws; and started the modern environmental movement, and in so doing created the nightmare of land being taken away from economic development and private ownership. He also utilized the word “progressive”, the beginning of modern socialism and communism in America! (Really whacko viewpoint of TR)!

William Howard Taft, often called a conservative, was no such thing, as he advocated the direct election of US Senators (17th Amendment), the hated “progressive” federal income tax (16th Amendment), and promoted anti trust laws suits on a greater scale than TR, and also more effective regulation of the railroads! (Not conservative enough for today’s Republicans)!

Woodrow Wilson was a further expander of progressivism, with the hated Federal Reserve Banking system, the Clayton Anti Trust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission; along with labor regulation on the national level for the first time. He also created “Big Government” bureaucracies during the First World War! (An overly one sided view of Wilson)!

Warren G. Harding has been criticized unfairly, as he was the President who worked to limit federal government, and has, therefore, been mistreated by historians, to be the worst President of the century, an unfair assessment. (Of course, in reality, totally false)!

Calvin Coolidge was the “best” President of the century, as he worked to continue Harding’s lessening of Presidential power, and prosperity reached its peak under him, and he has been unfairly blamed for the Great Depression, which began months after he left the White House. (Also totally false in reality)!

Herbert Hoover abandoned conservatism, raised taxes, moved toward deficit spending, and was the forerunner of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. His policies made things worse for Americans, and ushered in similar policies by FDR! (A distortion of the truth, in reality)!

Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, a Fascist, and a Nazi all at the same time, creating an all powerful Presidency , making the Great Depression much worse and longer, creating programs and policies called the New Deal, which were the undermining of America, and remains part of our existence today, but which conservatives and Republicans are determined to eliminate in the future! He also promoted the expansion of the Soviet Union by his corrupt deals in World War II! (A great distortion of the truth by conservative haters)!

Harry Truman continued and expanded the New Deal with his Fair Deal, and refused to fight Communism adequately in the Korean War! He also interfered with states rights by his decision to promote civil rights in the military and in Washington, DC, and also promoted labor rights against the attempt of Republicans to undermine labor unions. (A distortion of the truth again)!

Dwight D. Eisenhower became part of the great Progressive “conspiracy” by accepting the New Deal, expanding federal government intervention, and having the “nerve” to intervene in the civil rights crusade on the side of “extremists”, and undermining the South and its tradition, still held a century after the Civil War, in states rights! ( A view not taken seriously by any reputable expert on Ike)!

John F. Kennedy worked to expand the welfare state set up by FDR, Truman and Eisenhower, and further intervened in the South on the civil rights issue, using the National Guard as Eisenhower had done. Kennedy refused to confront the Soviet Union adequately, instead negotiating an agreement with the enemy, rather than start a nuclear war! (Part of the great distortion of JFK by conservative critics)!

Lyndon B. Johnson further expanded the New Deal with his Great Society, making Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and Fascism advance further, and taking away freedom by civil rights legislation, the war on poverty, and the “terrible” Medicare and Medicaid programs, two more welfare programs, similar to FDR’s Social Security. He also failed to win the war in Vietnam, caving in to the Communist enemy! (Part of the bitter attack on LBJ by the far Right)!

Richard Nixon made deals with the hated Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China, and failed to win the war in Vietnam, which could have been won. He also became a traitor by promoting “progressive” programs such as Affirmative Action, the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration, and the greatest advocate for the environment among American Presidents since Teddy Roosevelt! (Forget his real faults with Watergate, as these are more important, according to conservative critics)!

Gerald Ford was too moderate and accommodating, and his wife Betty Ford, was a radical feminist as First Lady! Ford stopped the advancement of conservatism by defeating Ronald Reagan for the Presidential nomination in 1976, and had Nelson Rockefeller, the hated “liberal” as his Vice President!(Oh, and Ford was too centrist, and for social moderation)!

Jimmy Carter was a terrible President with no redeeming values,and is “rightfully”attacked on a regular basis by Republicans and conservatives. He undermined the nation’s foreign and domestic policies! He had no worthwhile accomplishments at all! (A total distortion of reality!)

Ronald Reagan was a “great” President, with no shortcomings or faults, and we need a President of his insights and courage in the future. Those who claim Reagan was other than perfect are to be ignored! (A total interference with reality and truth!)

George H. W. Bush was a moderate who compromised with Democrats, raised taxes which undermined the country, and failed to overcome Iraq’s leader in the Persian Gulf War, because he worked with the United Nations on the war effort! (An unfair assessment, trivializing him)!

Bill Clinton had many faults and shortcomings, but despite his being impeached, and the vicious attacks on him, now is the time to talk about how much better he was than Barack Obama, because he made some deals with Republicans, after first resisting them in the battle over shutting down the government in 1995. (An amazing rewriting of history, unbelievable)!

George W. Bush cannot be blamed for September 11 and the War on Terror, but he was too willing to bust the budget, and his spending was too much out of control. (An attempt to write Bush out of blame for much of what America has to deal with today)!

But, of course, the fact that we are in an economy which is the worst since the Great Depression is not due to Bush or Republicans or conservative philosophy, but because we have in office now a black guy named Barack Obama, who was actually born in Kenya, and is a Socialist, Communist, Marxist, Fascist and Nazi, and is the greatest threat to American freedom since—well—-TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter and to some extent, Clinton—-and all those Republicans Presidents who actually were “progressives” in some way—Taft, Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and both Bushes!

If only we could eliminate all these Presidents except Harding Coolidge, and Reagan–this nation would be in fantastic shape! Right?

This is the deluded, nutty beliefs of many Republicans and conservatives–a great conspiracy by both Democratic and Republican Presidents against freedom and liberty and the best interests of the American people!

This is the “Know Nothingism”, the ignorance, the stupidity that intelligent people must fight against!

As Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, and Presidential candidate, said recently—the smart, the intelligent people will not support the Republican Party–and FOR GOOD REASON!

Vice President Joe Biden Suggests A Possible Candidacy For President In 2016

Ronald 1 Comment

To the surprise of many observers, Vice President Joe Biden has suggested on a CNN interview with Candy Crowley that he might run for President in 2016, to succeed his boss, President Barack Obama.

Why is this surprising? It is because after two failed Presidential candidacies in 1988 and 2008, it was figured that Biden was just happy to be Vice President, play a crucial role in the Obama Administration, and then retire after two terms as Vice President at the age of 74.

But instead, Biden makes it clear that he is feeling good, enjoying his work, and will consider another run for the top spot.

How should one react to this? The author wishes to leave no doubt of his great admiration for Joe Biden, thrilled that he is playing a major role under Barack Obama, and convinced that he is adding to the stature and growth of the Vice Presidency. And Joe Biden has a winning personality–warm, gregarious, friendly, reachable–and has tremendous contacts and links to people on Capitol Hill. He is, in many ways, a more charming and charismatic Lyndon Johnson without the rough edges of the 36th President. He has tremendous experience, and in fact, would be by far the most experienced ever of any Presidential candidate, even surpassing Johnson, Bob Dole, and Henry Clay, among others. He would literally have 44 years of service in government by 2016, 36 in the Senate, making him one of the longest serving in that body’s history, plus eight active years as Vice President.

Having been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee at different times, Biden would have a background that could not be matched by any Democratic or Republican opponent. He has the distinction of being the sixth youngest US Senator upon taking the oath, but the second youngest of all when one considers direct popular vote of the people after 1913, under the 17th Amendment.

His lifetime of service would be capped by four to eight years as President, but he would also be the oldest first term President at 74, and if he had two terms, would leave office as the oldest President in history. Only Ronald Reagan was elected in his 70s, and served two terms to just short by a few weeks of his 78th birthday, with Bob Dole being 73 when he ran, and John McCain being 72 when he was nominated.

The question is whether his health would hold up for the next five years and through a theoretical four to eight years after that. He would certainly be challenged by a new generation of leadership in his party, and his age might be a detriment. And since he is prone to gaffes and misstatements after so many years in office, and being extremely conversational by nature, he could have major problems in succeeding toward his goal.

One thing is certain–that if Joe Biden chose to run for President in 2016, it would be a fascinating run, whether he succeeded in his goal to be nominated and elected, or was retired after 44 years of distinguished service.

The Texasfication Of America: Is This What We Want?

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Governor Rick Perry of Texas has come out charging like a bull as a Presidential candidate, offering Texas as a model for America, but is it?

Texas is low down in the list of states in the following areas:

1. Educational spending and attainments and curriculum accuracy
2. Health Care spending and coverage
3. Minimum Wage Jobs
4. Environmental Protection from pollution
5. Corporate Regulation in the public interest
6. Stratification of wealth between rich and poor.
7. Mistreatment of Mexican American citizens
8. A backward legal system with high crime rates and execution numbers.

Besides all of the above, Rick Perry would like to wipe out most of the reforms of the 20th century, including:

1. 16th Amendment–Federal Income Tax
2. 17th Amendment–Direct Election Of Senators
3. National Labor Relations Act
4. Federal Education Programs
5. Environmental Protection Agency
6. Consumer Products Safety Commission
7. Medicaid, Medicare as we know it, and Obama Health Care
8. Occupational Safety And Health Administration
9. Food Stamps and Unemployment Compensation
10.Corporate and Banking Regulations
11.Repeal of Social Security

We will be learning a lot more about Rick Perry as time goes on, and as research by journalists is completed, but is not the above enough reason to reject Rick Perry for President of the United States?

It is clear that Rick Perry would be the most reactionary, right wing candidate for President since Barry Goldwater in 1964!

Enough said!

The Boston Tea Party Anniversary: Time To Reflect On The Tea Party Extremists Who Want To Destroy The Constitution They Say They Revere! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

Today, December 16, 237 years ago (1773), the event revered since then, the Boston Tea Party, took place, and galvanized the American colonists into the eventual movement for independence.

But one must remember that it still took two and a half years before the “Founding Fathers” agreed to move toward independence, as the Boston Tea Party crowd were considered radicals who were reckless and uncontrollable and irrational by many.

It is ironic, therefore, that many intelligent, thoughtful people consider today’s so called Tea Party Movement to be similarly radical, reckless, uncontrollable and irrational, and for good reasons!

Tea Party spokesmen in the differing movements that call themselves that title have called for radical actions, while claiming they revere the Constitution. But advocacy of measures such as the following belie what they claim to be their beliefs and goals.

These extremist statements and views include the following:

1. Modifying the 14th Amendment guarantee of citizenship to all born in the United States or its territories.
2. Repealing of the 16th Amendment which provides for a progressive federal income tax.
3. Repealing of the 17th Amendment, which provides for direct election of the United States Senate by popular vote, and returning the election to the state legislatures.
4.Repealing of legislation long established by federal law as an entitlement, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Unemployment Compensation.
5. Elimination of the Departments of Education and Energy.
6. Wiping out of the legislation passed under the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
7. Elimination of the Federal Reserve System set up under the New Freedom of Woodrow Wilson.
8. Ending of the numerous reforms passed under the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.
9. Termination of the agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration signed into law by President Richard Nixon.
10. Promotion of “Nativism” by reviving fear of immigrants, and trying to ban immigration from “undesirable” parts of the world.
11. Promoting States Rights and Secession 150 years after Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War was supposed to have settled that issue for all time.
12. Advocating Christianity as a national religion, and a church and state alliance, while the Founding Fathers specifically avoided that idea, instead promoting separation of church and state.

The Tea Party Movement is not a reform group designed to improve this nation, but instead to take it back to the reactionary realities of the past, which were overcome by a growth in power and influence by the national government, including the Presidency, the Congress, and the Supreme Court, to make the country truly a nation “of, by, and for the people”.

The Tea Party Movement does not offer “change”, but rather negativism and a return to the Gilded Age and the 19th century, before this nation became the great country that it is, a beacon of freedom, progress, and opportunity for the world!

The Right Wing Attack On The Constitution! Proposals To Destroy The 16th, 17th, And 14th Amendments! :(

Ronald 2 Comments

Conservatives and Republicans keep on claiming that liberals and progressives are destroying the Constitution, but in actual fact, it is the right wing that is setting out to distort and eviscerate the Constitution by eliminating constitutional amendments that they do not support!

There has been an attack in recent years on the 16th Amendment, the so called “progressive” federal income tax amendment of 1913, which if it was really enforced properly, would be taxing the rich much more than they have been, due to all kinds of loopholes and favored treatment of the elite throughout our history! But now, many right wingers want to wipe out the 16th Amendment altogether, and have a national value added tax or sales tax instead, which would victimize the middle and lower classes more than they are now, in favor of the elite evading taxes further! 🙁

Some right wingers have also proposed a wipe out of the 17th Amendment of 1913, which provided for direct popular election of the United States Senate! The argument is that the state legislatures should resume selection of the Senate, so as to wipe out popular participation (which is code language for preventing all those “undesirable” liberals and minorities playing a role in the selection of the upper chamber, which is already highly unrepresentative because of Senate rules, but would be more so if returned to the corrupt system that prevailed until 1913)! Is there anything more undemocratic than this desire to take away the power of the vote from the people? 🙁

Now, there are proposals by Republican Senators to reconsider the 14th Amendment, so as to prevent children born in the US of visitors and immigrants who are not citizens, from becoming citizens at birth as was clearly stated in that amendment upon passage in Congress in 1866, and ratified by 1868! Instead of America being the “land of opportunity and hope”, they want to separate children from citizenship by the circumstances of their birth! 🙁

The point to be made about all three of the above amendments is that this is basically all just political propaganda, as an amendment change or new amendment would require a two thirds vote of both houses of Congress, and passage by majority vote in both houses of the state legislature in three fourths, or 38 of the 50 states!

So the odds of any of this happening is near zero, but it is a great way to divide America and win elections!

To even imagine that we would ever have a nation where two thirds of both houses of Congress and a majority vote in both houses of the state legislatures in three fourths of the states would occur to bring about these changes is a literal nightmare scenario! 🙁

If that were to happen in reality, then America would be seen as having lost its way and the purpose of its existence–as the last best hope for oppressed people and average, everyday Americans who just want a fair shake!

Idaho Moves To The Lunatic Right: A Call To Nullification And Repeal Of The 17th Amendment!

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The state of Idaho is remembered in its past for having had a couple of outstanding Senators (Republican William Borah and Democrat Frank Church), and a conservationist minded Governor who became an exceptional Secretary of the Interior under President Jimmy Carter (Cecil Andrus).

But Idaho, otherwise, is primarily recalled as the home of the Idaho Potato and of a number of white supremacist, racist groups, who feel comfortable in a state with a very small percentage of minorities!

Idaho has moved now to the Lunatic Right, if one examines the Republican state convention’s actions and resolutions!:(

The GOP wants to return to the right of nullification, which John C. Calhoun of South Carolina advocated, almost caused civil war under Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, and was a factor in the Civil War in the 1860s! Supposedly, nullification died as a result of the Union victory in that war, but suddenly it has reared its ugly head again!:(

The state convention also called for the repeal of the direct election of Senators, a democratizing idea that became part of the Constitution in 1913, but which now is opposed by the Tea Party elements who dominate that state’s GOP, just as in Utah a month ago. So the state legislatures should again control the Senate, even though the state corruption level and corporate control was endemic at the time! Is this progress toward the people having the final say on their Senators? The answer is obvious! 🙁

Additionally, the Republican party calls for retaking national parks and other public lands back from the US government, reversing what Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Cecil Andrus and other environmentalists spent their public life promoting! How that is to be done is not made clear! 🙁

Idaho Republicans want to promote the full enforcement of the Tenth Amendment with emphasis on state sovereignty being dominant, as if the state is an independent entity, which it is not, under our Constitution! 🙁

Really bringing back the 19th century, another proposal is to promote “hard money”, the use of gold and silver, instead of paper money, as the legal tender utilized by Idaho citizens! This is truly a loony idea, with no means of enforcement!

Socially, Idaho Republicans want to promote traditional marriage, but specifically say that transgender individuals should also not be allowed to marry, thereby failing to recognize the reality of some people being born in a way that no one would wish on their worst enemy! Is there a need to discriminate against such individuals? 🙁

Idaho Republicans are going the way of states including Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and South Carolina–putting all these states on a short list of states that are moving toward the lunatic fringe! 🙁

The intelligent citizens of these states need to speak up and to defend the good name of their states, as the GOP is certainly NOT doing so, instead inviting ridicule! 🙁

Rep. Louie Gohmert And Direct Election Of The Senate

Ronald 1 Comment

One of the great “progressive” reforms a century ago was the 17th Amendment, promoting the direct election of the US Senate by the people, a move advocated because of the terrible and corrupt image of the Senate due to corporate influences on the state legislatures, who had the responsibility to select the Senate under the Constitution.

Now, Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert promotes a repeal of the amendment, in order to promote states rights!

This is a loony idea, to move AWAY from democracy, back toward corrupt state legislatures and corporate influence!

Is this Texas Congressman crazy? What is it about Texas that they elect such loony people to Congress?

I would argue there is a better case for giving Texas back to Mexico LOL than to repeal the 17th Amendment! 🙂