Progressive Delusions
Progressivism is a difficult term to pin down. Some call it a fancy name for being liberal. Others call it the code word for socialism. And the Tea Party, conservatives, and most republicans say it is about tax and spend. But in truth, it is about America and what America has stood for over the years.
When the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, these documents were like no others in their time. These were progressive documents (relative to those found elsewhere) that recognize the rights of man. Over the 200 plus years of our Country’s existence, our laws (and out Constitution) has evolved to reflect the needs of citizens as the world also changed. With the exception of the Civil War, where regional differences split the Country and war resulted, the US has gradually evolved in a progressive direction when choice was presented. (Today, no one would say that slavery should have been allowed to continue, so the side that favored abolition was in fact progressive).
With the notion of “right is on our side”, progressive are ready to push hard and further to see the US adopt more progressive ideas. Health care reform is a recent example where some progressive measures were enacted but others remained unheeded. Congressional Democrats tell us that the reform passed was the best that could be agreed to by Congress. The additional unheeded progressive ideas will have to wait for another time.
Democrats and progressives need to take notice of the resistance that is building rapidly to their legislative agenda. The opposition speaks generally in irrational terms and often speaks of totally different issues when opposing progressive ideas. We hear about “government is too big” or “this is a states right issue” or some hysteria about “communism, socialism, or fascism”. Rationally, progressive proposals are none of these, of course, but never the less, opponents are mad as hell.
There are two issues, I believe, underlying this dialogue. First, the Country as a whole is not creating wealth as it once did and it is not distributing the wealth it does create in ways people have been lead to believe the American dream is supposed to deliver. Other than the very rich, incomes are stagnated and costs are increasing all around. People are feeling squeezed.
The second issue relates to existing government costs (including the debt) and the taxes we pay. Most people have no complete picture of what taxes are collected and where these taxes go. The suggestion that taxes must increase simply can not be understood.
Progressives must recognize that they cannot implement any further (and needed) reforms until citizens are comfortable that the amount of taxes they pay is fair for the services they receive. That demands that the Country fully explains its expenditures and its taxes. These explanations should cascade down to States, Counties, and local jurisdictions. This will be a massive study and by its shear complexity call loudly for a drastic reform of the tax code. Progressive should (but probably won’t) take the lead on tax reform. In doing so, they will take a giant step towards putting America on a fiscally sounder footing and demonstrate to the population that progressives can lead in a responsible manner.
This entry was posted on April 28, 2010 at 10:46 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Politics, Republican Party, Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: liberals, progressive, taxation, taxes, tea party
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