It's more complicated. What came to be called AFDC (the main welfare aid program) was actually first included in FDR's Social Security Act.The Great Society was built squarely on the foundation of the New Deal. This agenda played a critical role in taking the US to its height of wealth and productivity (no, not utopia, but...) from FDR to Reagan. In the 1980s, we decided to begin reversing course, doing just the opposite. The Clinton administration took an ax to the Great Society, and took the first steps to similarly "reform" Social Security (targeted the disabled).

Add in the "free trade" agenda (significant loss of family-supporting jobs) and our war agenda, years of massive corporate tax cuts/handouts, and look at the results. When Reagan was first elected, the overall quality of life in the US was rated at #1. By the time Obama was elected, the US had already fallen to #48.

Through all of this, those who are not on the right wing were successfully divided, pitted against each other by class and race.

You took the words out of my mouth ! Thank you !

The challenge for those who are troubled by existing socio-political arrangements and institutions is to look deeply into what constitutes just law. The fundamental right of human beings has for most of the history of large societies been institutionally denied. This is our equal birthright to nature.

When people began to settle in one place they needed to agree on rules that governed access to what nature provided. Initially, tribal groups established these rules based on common needs. Over time, however, all societies succumbed to hierarchy, with those who produced the goods needed by all pushed to the bottom, living under the rule of a privileged elite (usually in league with those who proclaimed an ability to communicate with the gods). Privileged elites have continued to exist under state-socialism, under all the strains of social democracy or democratic-socialism, and under the liberalism that characterized "the American System" from the New Deal era until the upsurge of Reagan's New Federalism.

To get the dominos falling in the direction toward real justice, what is needed is a fundamental change in our systems of property law and taxation. Ideally, no one should be permitted to claim owneship of nature. Unfortunately, since the signing of Magna Carta land that was once the commons began to be bought and sold rather than allocated subject to the payment of rents, rents collected to pay for public goods and services. Today, when land is needed for public purposes, governments must tax citizens to pay the "owners" in order to acquire land that was once in the public domain before being given away to political favorites or speculators.

The best solution to landed privilege turns out to be taxation. The imposition of an annual tax on land that comes close to the potential annual rental value of land held would not only raise need revenue for infrastructure and public services but remove from an economy the destructive influence of land speculation. Owners of land would have a real financial incentive to bring the land they hold to its highest, best use (as permitted by the community) or sell to someone who would. At the same time, taxes on private property (e.g., houses and other property improvements) should be greatly reduced or eliminated. A long list of thoughtful analysts have embraced these proposals going back even to Adam Smith and Thomas Paine (in "Agrarian Justice"). The American Henry George built a global political movement in competition with laissez-faire captialism and socialism at the end of the 19th century. Had he succeeded we would be having a very different discussion about the state of the planet and humanity.

Edward J. Dodson, M.L.A.

Director

School of Cooperative Individualism.

www.cooperative-individualism.org

The rich are the real progressives of modern times. They have certainly moved forward quite a bit. Real conservatism would start with them tempering their insane wants and settling for a little less, same as they expect us to. The past rocked!

"The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them." Mark Twain

Taiwan has a Progressive President Tsai Ing-wen. South Korea just elected a Progressive President Moon Jae-in. Canada Has Trudeau. Austrailia has Malcolm Turnbull. We have Trump???

Why is it that we keep getting Republicans elected and then they are a total disaster. Do we have to keep repeating this? Bush/Cheney ignored the fact that Osama Bin Laden wanted to attack us and allowed 9/11 to happen. Led us into a hunt for Bin Laden in Afghanistan, missed him, then changed the mission to bringing democracy to the middle east and we are still there. Cut taxes for the wealthy. Then led us into Iraq with a lie. 4500 soldiers killed, 20000 wounded, Trillions of dollars spent, 1 million Iraqis killed and displaced, No bid contracts for Cheney's Company Haliburton. Put the economy in the tank. Then the USA elects another Republican and 120 days later (all 120 days, every single one) we are a total embarrassment again. Same could be said for Nixon and Reagan. Why would you ever vote Republican? Especially when the Republican Party only supports the 1%.

#28 is this sent and received?

Diane: "Whatever happened, the fake engineered drama of the day must only apply to the individual the leftie/socialists did not vote for.

'Obama Ordered The U.S. Intelligence Community To Share Intel With Cuba'"

First. "The Federalist" is absolutely not a credible source by any standard of objective journalism. It is one of the most slanted, right-wing "think" tanks, funded almost exclusively by a heavily partisan network of millionaires and billionaires, who are pushing an extreme agenda far out of the mainstream and in violation of basic democratic principles. In other words, it is the digestive juices in the belly of the oligarchical beast. If you're citing material like theirs, it's no wonder most of your posts are so factually incorrect.

Second. A case in point: The deflecting, one-sided, false-news "story" you linked to leaves out the critical information that detracts from its transparent slant, which can be easily debunked by any rudimentary search, such as:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-classified-intelligence-disclosure-ad-hoc-other-presidents-history/

(note: Of course CBS is mainstream corporate media, but pay particular attention to Kathryn Watson's sources for this article, which will lead you to further credible research.)

Third. I see you've glommed onto another cute little phrase, of which you seem very proud, having repeated it several times in your recent posts: "fake engineered drama." Nice! Very clever, and so new and shiny too! Now, don't wear it out too fast by repeating it over and over in every single post ad nauseam, like "leftie/socialists." (Remember, Medicare pays for therapy to help you cope with senility -- that is, until Paul Ryan cuts it.)

DO NOT IMPEACH TRUMP! (nor do I want any other calamity to befall him). It will only make him a Martyr to his supporters, and hardened them against any reasonable pleas. Think how black voters would have responded if anything had happened to Pres. Obama.

stecoop01 • 13 hours 50 min ago
#3
As bad as Trump IS, Pence would be even worse. Why? Because Pence knows what he's doing, and is far better at the game of politics than Trump could ever dream of being.
So, impeach Trump, shoot Pence.

stecoop01 • 13 hours 15 min ago
#8

Is it too late to nuke Washington? How about a little plague that only attacks politicians?
I see no hope...bring on the Earth shattering asteroid.

Stupidity, party of one, your cell is ready.

You are probably lucky this blog is read by a small handful of followers.

Outback,

Aaarrrghh! 'Cept it shoulda been "steer onto the shoals," not the "doldrums." A bit too much Laphroaig Triple Wood scotch wit me mates playing poker. Slainte!