[ProgressingAmerica]

American historians have done the following with Theodore Roosevelt's progressive record:

Before:

After:

[foreverfree]

bump

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

TR= totalitarian republican.

[Pelham]

Regulating RR rates long predates Teddy Roosevelt. You need to read up on the Granger Laws than began as early as the 1860s. And the ICC itself was created in 1887.

But RRs were hardly abused innocents in the late 1800s. Fisk, Gould, Vanderbilt and their pals were the richest men in the country and routinely put politicians on their boards of directors. They were the most powerful companies in the country, if not the world, and many of them had gotten that way through government largesse. Gov’ts gave them free land. That happens when you pay off politicians.

The push for progressive era regulation owes a lot to the business practices of the RRS and their collaboration with Standard Oil under JD Rockefeller and Henry Flagler. It wasn’t something dreamt up by Teddy, Taft, and Wilson.

[BigEdLB]

A fortunate fatal heart attack at age 60 saved us from a likely second TR presidency in 1920

[BigEdLB]

A fortunate fatal heart attack at age 60 saved us from a likely second TR presidency in 1920

[BenLurkin]

Whoever was last needs to be THE last.

[Nifster]

Call Glenn I’m sure he wants to chat

[mt tom]

I was aware that Wilson was trying to regulate almost everything

[publius911]

Theodore Roosevelt even wrote in his own Autobiography, the following:
I have always believed that it would also be necessary to give the National Government complete power over the organization and capitalization of all business concerns engaged in inter-State commerce.

Which in today,s sick governmental universe, includes any and every business concern, since the Supreme Court absurdly keeps ruling that simply making an interstate telephone call related to any aspect of a business from any telephone in the world, transforms the action into "interstate commerce."

[nicollo]

Yep. And good points on your follow up comments here.

For a solid glimpse into TR’s descent into progressivism, read his message to Congress Jan. 1906:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29547

[leprechaun9]

I don’t know who was first. But I do know that when NIXON implemented WAGE & PRICE controls, the unions went beserk!

They demanded some other form of compensation to replace Wage increases. Corporations were pressured to start paying for Healthcare. Initially it was a certain percentage. Subsequent demands eventually led to full payment by the corporation.

In 1959 when I was discharged from the Navy and was hired by AT&T, I had to pay for my own healthcare 100%. There were two options: FAMILY PLAN and INDIVIDUAL.

In my mind, that change was a major factor in creating the mess we have today. Time is really the toughest test for public policy!

[CommieCutter]

Glen Beck used to throw TR under the bus a lot for his Progressivism.