Sons of Liberty Loc: look behind you!

President Woodrow Wilson was a early progressive who many called the "Father of the Progressive Movement" and who actively rejected what the founding fathers said and intended. He argued that the meaning of the Constitution should be interpreted by judges, and not based on its words and in his book, "Constitutional Government in the United States", Wilson wrote:

"We can say without the least disparagement or even criticism of the Supreme Court of the United States that at its hands the Constitution has received an adaptation and an elaboration which would fill its framers of the simple days of 1787 with nothing less than amazement. The explicitly granted powers of the Constitution are what they always were; but the powers drawn from it by implication have grown and multiplied beyond all expectation, and each generation of statesmen looks to the Supreme Court to supply the interpretation which will serve the needs of the day."

During the period known as the Progressive Era (1890s to about 1920) the U.S. government became increasingly activist in both domestic and foreign policy. Progressive, that is, reform-minded, political leaders sought to extend their vision of a just and rational order to all areas of society and some, indeed, to all reaches of the globe.

Woodrow Wilson, in His 1912 "New Freedom" Speeches

Defined progressivism as the belief that the laws need to keep up with changes in economic circumstances; the progressive wants to adjust laws to "the facts of the case," because the law is ultimately an expression of the facts in legal relationships. The progressive believes in changing legal and political structures, but not merely for the sake of variety; he only supports changes that he considers "improvements"; he views the future, not the past, as the more glorious time toward which the present ought to aspire.

Wilson applauds the "modern idea" of leaving the past and pressing on to something new-albeit very carefully so as to avoid the dangers which often accompany reform. Wilson's progressivism challenged the very construction of the Constitution itself. Wilson considered the Constitution to be based on the old Newtonian scientific paradigm-whereby the Framers are alleged to have seen the government as "mechanical" and subjecting it to pre-planned checks and balances. But Wilson wished to base government on the principles of Darwin rather than those of Newton; he saw government as a "living thing" and believed that "no living thing can have its organs offset against each other as checks and live."

Wilson wanted to Replace the System of Checks and Balances with a System of Cooperation
among the branches of government. 1911, The Socialist Party of Great Britain publishes a pamphlet entitled “Socialism and Religion” in which they clearly state their position on Christianity: “It is therefore a profound t***h that Socialism is the natural enemy of religion. A Christian Socialist is in fact an anti-Socialist. Christianity is the antithesis of Socialism.” 1912, Colonel Edward Mandell House, a close adviser of President Woodrow Wilson, publishes “Phillip Dru: Administrator”, in which he promotes "socialism as dreamed up by Karl Marx." Feb. 3, 1913, The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making it possible for the Federal Government to impose a progressive income tax, is ratified. Plank #2 of “The C*******t Manifesto” had called for a progressive income tax.

In Canada, the income tax is introduced in 1917, as a “temporary measure” to finance the war effort.) 1913, President Woodrow Wilson publishes “The New Freedom” in which he reveals: “Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” Dec. 23, 1913 – The Federal Reserve (neither federal nor a reserve, it's a privately owned institution) is created.

It was Planned at a Secret Meeting in 1910 on Jekyl Island, Georgia

By a group of bankers and politicians, including Col. House. This t***sfers the power to create money from the American Government to a private group of bankers. The Federal Reserve Act is hastily passed just before the Christmas break. Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. (father of the famed aviator) warns: “This act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President signs this act the invisible government by the money power, proven to exist by the Money Trust Investigation, will be legalized.”1916, Three years after signing the Federal Reserve Act into law, President Woodrow Wilson observes: “I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country.

A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the v**e of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”Furthermore, Wilson challenged the relevance of the Declaration of Independence to the questions of his day; he claimed that the Declaration "is of no consequence to us unless we can t***slate its general terms into examples of the present day"; that is, for Wilson, the Declaration has no meaning unless it can be reinterpreted in a way that evolves with the concrete circumstances of the times.

This Reinterpretation Led Wilson to Redefine the Word "Tyranny"

To mean "control of the law, of legislation and adjudication, by organizations which do not represent the people, by means which are private and selfish." Instead of opposing the tyranny of intrusive government, Wilson wishes to redirect the Declaration against the "tyranny" of corporations. In "Socialism and Democracy" (1887), Woodrow Wilson claims that there is no essential difference in principle between socialism and democracy. Sadly many citizens of the United States of America still don't realize that Progressivism, Socialism and Democracy are truly one in the same.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Some might say Theodore Roosevelt, in terms of progressive thought by a U.S. president, although Wilson is a good candidate. But, include The Wisconsin Idea, in United States history, as referring to a series of political reforms of the late 19th century and early 20th century whose strongest advocate was Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Wisconsin's governor (1901–1906) and senator (1906–1925). The Wisconsin Idea was created by the state's progressives to do away with monopolies, trusts, high cost of living, and predatory wealth, which they saw as the problem that must be solved or else "no advancement of human welfare or progress can take place". Reforms in labor rights were one of the major aspects of the Wisconsin Idea. The progressive worker's compensation program was first introduced by German immigrants, who were abundant in Wisconsin. The system was adopted from the existing system in Germany, which was based on the idea that the employer was obligated to take care of his employees and keep paying them as they grew old. Many of the reforms were based on traditions and customs brought to the state by German immigrants. The emphasis on higher learning and well-funded universities stressed by the Wisconsin Idea was derived from the education system of Germany. Progressives also proposed the first state income taxes, as well as submitting the idea of a progressive tax. They also passed legislation prohibiting pollution and police brutality.

The Wisconsin Idea would go on to set an example for other states in the United States. The progressive politicians of the time sought to emulate and ultimately transcend the states of the east coast in regards to labor laws. Wisconsin progressives wished to make Wisconsin into a benchmark for other Midwestern states to strive towards. Although many of the reforms went through in 1911, conservative opponents of the progressive party took control of Wisconsin in 1914, thus minimizing the magnitude and effects of the reforms. The Wisconsin Idea would continue to be a revolutionary precedent for other universities, and its educational aspects are still relevant today. Robert La Follette, Sr. was the man who implemented much of this legislation, and he was among the earliest supporters of direct e******n of senators, which is now a national practice. These progressive politicians also helped pass the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments to the American Constitution.

These proposed reforms, all of which were eventually adopted, included:

Primary e******ns, allowing the rank-and-file members of a political party to choose its nominees rather than caucuses usually dominated by political bosses.
Workers' compensation, allowing workers injured whilst working to receive a fixed payment in compensation for their injuries and related expenses rather than forcing them to go to court against their employers, which at the time was extremely difficult and had little realistic chance of success.
State regulation of railroads in addition to the federal regulation imposed by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Direct e******n of United States Senators as opposed to the original method of their se******n by the state legislatures, eventually ratified as the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Progressive taxation, where the wealthier pay a higher rate of tax than the less-affluent, made possible on the federal level in part by the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Adoption of these reforms marked the high point of the Progressive Era.

Sons of Liberty Loc: look behind you!

Hell Slatts...I just liked the last paragraph in all of that mumbo jumbo I posted. Too many people just don't recognize that.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

And good morning to you, also, S-O-L.

Sons of Liberty Loc: look behind you!

Right back at ya brother! This dang weather has me home from work again.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

It should be noted that Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party ticket quite likely won the e******n for Wilson in 1912 by costing Taft a large segment of the GOP in a four-way p**********l race.

BTW, retirement keeps me home until I leave the house at my choosing. Going to Waco later to take a neighbor to the V.A.