Our country and all that we hold dear is at stake in this election. The United States has fallen from a position of power in the world. We have squandered our good will and moral leadership. For the past eight years the Bush administration has taken us back to the 19th Century and we allowed it to happen with our complacency. We sat silently while an election was stolen in Florida (yes, it WAS stolen!!!!), we allowed incompetent political hacks to be appointed to positions of power, we watched while the OIL, MINING, PHARMACUTICAL, DEFENSE, and BANKING industries gained unprecedented access to the White House, and for all practical purposes took control of the economy of this country. We blindly followed Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al into a war that should not have been. We did not demand information, we did not attempt to understand the history, and did not seem to flinch when our constitutional rights were eroded, and as long as it did not affect our lives we let it continue. This must come to an end...we must take control and get our country back.
We entered the 20th Century with an out of control free market economy...an economy where there were no income taxes, no minimum wage, no workmen's compensation, no child labor laws, no laws to oversee the manufacture of drugs or food, no workplace safety laws, no social security, no central banking regulations, no collective bargaining, no laws to prevent monopolies, no consumer protection, no social safety net at all. The laissez-faire economy that existed at the turn of the century had spawned economic inequities that could be compared to pre-revolutionary France. Americans died from contaminated food, workers demanding humane conditions and fair wages were killed by private armies hired by companies, children and women worked long hours in squalid conditions, wealth was controlled by a handfull of individuals, a few large companies and the MEN who owned them controlled all aspects of American society.
By 1901 progressive politicians from both parties realized that things had to change, hence the Progressive Movement. Congress passed laws that were meant to control the out of control laissez-faire economic sytem. Progressive income tax, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, The Federal Reserve System, the stengthening of the Intersate Commission, were all created by Congress to reign in the economic excesses. Government began to be a steward rather than a bystander. Unfortunately the Supreme Court was not on the same page and eroded many of the gains, and the Presidency was taken over by the last gasp of laissez-faire Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. These Presidents were certainly not Teddy Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson. The 1920's saw government ignore most of the changes that had taken place. Business once again took the driver's seat and drove the country into a DEPRESSION.
When FDR assumed the Presidency in 1932 the relationship between government and the American people changed forever. The Progressive reforms mentioned earlier were resurrected and as the New Deal progressed the Congress took measures to put the government in control of the economy. Banks were closed and allowed to open only when solvent, the Glass-Steagall act reformed banking and established regulations to avoid the co-mingling of commercial banking and investment banking. The FED was strengthened, the Securities and Exchange Commission would regulate the stock market, jobs were created, Social Security implemented, minimum wage and hour laws passed, labor gained the right to bargain collectively. Government became a regulator to correct the abuses of greedy men, not to enhance the power of politicians.
Conservative Republicans resented the New Deal reforms and tried to overturn them but to no avail. Our economy prospered and grew with American citizens protected against economic abuses. But under the radar, conservatives were bringing laissez-faire economics back to life. Their dream came true with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Reagan brought to Washington young conservatives who did not believe in the regulatory function of government. They worshipped the "invisible hand" of the market and believed it was the way to ensure prosperity. People were put in regulatory agencies to erode power.
As we moved to the end of the 20th Century these young deregulators aged and gained more power, many Democrats drank the koolaid and jumped on the bandwagon. Glass-Steagall was repealed, the SEC, FDA, FTC, ICC, FCC all were neutered. The illegitimate 2000 election put the last nail in the regulatory coffin. Bush's election placed corporations once again in control. Regulatory agencies became arms of the industries they were supposed to regulate. We have come full circle...back to the good old days of the 1890's People were no longer important. Corporate profits were all that mattered. This is where we find ourselves at this moment in history. I have only addressed the economy in this entry. Our position in the world has eroded, our country is so polarized that we no longer have political dialogue without screaming. We can either flounder or we can move forward in a positive way. Obama is the future. He understands where we need to go. He may not have been "at the Cuban Missle Crisis" but he will know where to take us if there is a crisis. He will bring to Washington people who care...people who see government as a protector. We must have faith that things will get better. OBAMA for President of the United States.
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