Posted on 12/26/2010 5:57:53 AM PST by SterlingSilver
In the face of a dwindling majority, we see the Progressive wing of the Democrat Party making a now familiar attempt to make up the rules as they go along. Can the new Republican/Conservative Members elected in November hold off this powergrab? And, will the American public have their backs as the stand off against the Progressives takes shape?
Our Founding Fathers also intended the Senate to consist of persons chosen by state legislators, not directly elected by the people.
As far as changing the rules of the fillibuster, the Constitution clearly states that each body will set their own rules. So the Senate can change their own rules any time they wish.
ping
And, regarding the change in rules, in my opinion and I believe that of the author of the article is that making such changes need be level handed and not driven to obstruct important tools for one side of the isle, but not apply to the other side...
...thanks for the ping
These are the left-over Lefties from the Sixties, plus younger university brain-washed Communists, who blame middle class Americans for their inability to live a decent life and are bent on changing the rules so that they and their ilk fit in.
They need to be mocked and purged from society. The sane segment should not be intimidated by the weird and clueless.
...exactly
Here’s a little Woodrow Wilson memoribelia to enjoy this day after Christmas...
Major Events While Wison Was In Office:
• Seventeenth Amendment ratified calling for direct election of Senators (1913)
• Federal Reserve Act (1913)
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)
• World War I (1914-1918)
• Lusitania Sunk (1915)
• United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany (1917)
• Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• Eighteenth Amendment ratified prohibiting alcoholic beverages (1919)
• Nineteenth Amendment ratified giving women the right to vote (1920)
Tyrants do not care what the people want or think. So I suggest everyone just get used to it. It is just what the American people deserve, for after all, people get the government they deserve.
“A people unwilling to use extreme violent force to perserve or obtain their liberty deserves the tyrants that rule them.””
“When the government fears the people you have liberty.” Tj
The 17th amendment has done more to trash the intended and constitutionally mandated process of the US Government than any other thing. The 17th amendment rendered the individual states politically impotent and largely irrelevant.
A simple glance at the map in the link illustrates that if the 17th amendment were not passed, the Dems would be lucky to have even 40 Senators in that supposedly august body:
http://www.ncsl.org/tabid/21253/default.aspx
The 17th amendment ruined a beautifully designed ‘Republican’ form of government given to us by the founders, and has allowed this progressive agenda to advance.
Woodrow Wilson was, indeed, one of the very worst presidents we've ever had. However, even though there was a flurry of new constitutional amendments during his two terms, 1913–1921, all of them derived from the Republican Progressive Era. It was a time when, believe it or not, many Democrats were the "conservatives" and many Republicans were the "liberals" more or less as we understand those two terms today.
Wilson can't be blamed for the 16th and 17th Amendments, as both of those were passed by Republican congresses before he took office.
16th Amendment, income tax, passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified by sufficient number of states, February 3, 1913.17th Amendment, election of senators, passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified by sufficient number of states, April 8, 1913.
18th Amendment, prohibition, passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified by sufficient number of states, January 16, 1919. Repealed by 21st Amendment.
19th Amendment, women's right to vote, passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified by sufficient number of states August 18, 1920.
Wilson did broker a deal between Republicans (for it) and Democrats (against it) to get the Federal Reserve Act passed.
Wilson's presidency was also one of the most blatantly racist in history. During his term, full segregation was introduced into the U.S. Postal service. Blacks were also reduced in rank and/or dismissed from the Postal Service. He refused to appoint or re-appoint blacks to many other positions in the federal government.
Wilson's mishandling of the 1918 influenza pandemic directly led to thousands of our soldiers dying from it and also spreading it beyond military posts to the general population both here and overseas. It was a national disgrace of monumental proportions that has largely been buried in history.
Wilson's Treaty of Versailles led directly to World War II, and his League of Nations led directly to the execrable United Nations.
The Russian Revolution happened on his watch, and Wilson did nothing to at least try to prevent the communists from taking over.
Mostly for ill, Wilson's presidency shaped the 20th Century, and we are still living with the consequences today.
And Teddy Roosevelt played Ross Perot and got that b*astard Wilson elected in the first place.
How did he mishandle the flu epidemic?
You forgot one:
the Sixteenth Amendment was passed while he was in office.
I must be the dumbest Freeper around because I am not seeing the difference in Senators being elected by legislatures who are elected by the people as opposed to the people themselves electing the Senators, in effect eliminating the middle man. I suppose it is the same reasoning for electing electors in presidential elections instead of direct popular vote. Regardless, if the founders thought that was the best way to do it then I am in agreement with it.
I guess it in some way modifies the possibility of tyranny by a majority.
“I, like many, would like to see the Constitution changed back to the concept, as originally intended by the Founding Fathers, that the Senate would consist of person’s chosen by State Legislators. This would put more power in the hands of the States and clean up much of the stupidity and corrupt influence involved in electing US Senators under the present format...”
Absolutely correct. Here’s why: The 16th amendment (income tax) and the 17th amendment (direct election of senators) were critical to the growth of big government. Prior to the 16th, all taxes had to be allocated to the states based upon population. It was up to the state legislatures to raise the money. Since the state legislatures appointed senators prior to the 17th amendment, the most critical job of these state appointed senators was to ensure that the state legislures didn’t have to raise taxes to pay fedeal bills.
Hi, sorry I didn't answer right away. I work a graveyard shift and go to bed shortly after I get home. I just got up. :)
Wilson's role in the 1918 flu epidemic is not widely known today largely because he suppressed freedom of the press during his second term. Yep...this is 100% true.
For people who are interested in learning about this terrible episode in American history in detail, I highly recommend "The Great Influenza," by John M. Barry, 2004, Penguin Group. Barry's book is possibly the greatest historical nonfiction work of the past decade. He researched in meticulous detail the start and spread of what came to be misnamed the "Spanish flu."
Here's a short summary of what Wilson did:
The beginnings of the 1918 flu pandemic -- the most deadly pandemic since the Black Death in the Middle Ages -- were traced to America's heartland. It likely started on a Kansas farm.
It became known as the Spanish flu because Spain was not at war, so it still had freedom of the press and they reported the flu devastating their country. At the time, no one knew the origin of the flu.
In the United States, Wilson had totally ignored the First Amendment and shut down freedom of the press, along with many other freedoms, citing patriotism and the need to keep Americans on the right track. So news of the flu's spread across the nation traveled slowly, if at all in the early days. Medicine of the era was pretty advanced, and doctors knew enough to tell people how to protect themselves. But with news suppressed, word simply didn't travel fast enough for precautions to be taken across the country.
Almost 24 million men registered for the draft during the WWI era. Thousands were sent to over-crowded, makeshift camps in the U.S. The first reported flu cases occurred at Ft. Riley, Kansas, on March 11. An Army private reported to the camp hospital just before breakfast complaining of fever, sore throat and headache. He was quickly followed by another soldier with similar complaints. By noon, the camp’s hospital had 100 ill soldiers. By week’s end, that number jumped to 500.
The Wilson administration didn't respond at all to the devastation sweeping the country until September 13 when U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue dispatched advice to the press on how to recognize the influenza symptoms. By then it was six months too late. An estimated 12,000 Americans died that September along the northeastern seaboard alone. Across the nation that October, alone, more than 195,000 died. So many died that there was a nationwide shortage of caskets. Ignoring the advice of doctors, the administration had allowed huge numbers of soldiers and sailors to mix with the general population across the country and overseas. U.S. troops carried the flu to the trenches of the European battlefield where it spread like wildfire from Europe around the world.
Although no one knows exactly how many died from the 1918 flu, estimates range from 50 to 100 million. At the low end, 50 million was about 3% of the world's population at the time. An estimated 500 million, or 1/3 of the world's population, were infected.
By the way, Wilson was a leader of the so-called Progressive Movement. In addition to those already listed on this thread, among his greatest hits were:
Federal Trade Commission ActAntitrust Act
Federal Farm Loan Act
America's first-ever federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913 -- the income tax amendment did not happen on his watch, but the way it's been implemented ever since is Wilson's legacy, and he was a leader of the political movement that brought all these "greatest hits" into being
Whenever people discuss lists of worst presidents, I always put Wilson at the top of my list.
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