“IF MEN WERE ANGELS, NO GOVERNMENT WOULD BE NECESSARY”
James Madison
President Obama spoke yesterday to an audience of 1200 in the very small town of Osawatomie, Kansas. He chose this site because one of his illustrious predecessors, Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, had outlined his views of progressive government there 101 years ago. In that speech, T.R. demonstrated that he truly understood what James Madison, one of his illustrious predecessors, had meant when he authored his famous line about men, angels and government.
Roosevelt, who had described the economic elite of his time as “malefactors of great wealth,” hiding behind corporate walls, clearly had acted on Madison’s warning throughout his Presidency. From trust-busting to conservation, from infrastructure building, to efforts to stop the exploitation of children and protect the elderly, women, and disabled, Roosevelt demonstrated he understood that a vigorous government, committed, shall we say, to the well-being of the 99%, was necessary for the creation of a dynamic and just society. Today’s heirs to Teddy Roosevelt’s Republican label bear no resemblance to him. None!
As President Obama pointed out, T.R. was reviled for his efforts. He was called (gasp) a “socialist” and even a “communist.” Roosevelt fought to protect children from exploitation. Is there no difference between social betterment and socialism? Of course, Pope John Paul I, when he was Patriarch of Venice, credited the socialists and labor unions for improving lives throughout Europe.
Newt Gingrich, the current Republican front- runner, a brilliant propagandist whose views swing dizzyingly from the political right to the far-right, scoffs at child labor laws and wants to save school systems money by firing janitors and replacing them with “kids.” This proposal might have come from the pre-redeemed Ebenezer Scrooge. Instead it comes from a man who denies that the $1 million plus he was paid by Freddie Mac was for lobbying; because he did not need to lobby; because he was paid $60,000 per speech. Huh? This current leading candidate is hypocritical. He is wealthy, has a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany’s, was fined by an overwhelming bi-partisan vote of his House colleagues for a breach of ethics, made millions spewing his nostrums to adoring know-nothings, and now has the gall to attack child-labor laws and claim that poor kids have no role models other than those engaged in illegal activity. Questions to Newt: What role-model did you have that inspired you to breach the ethics rules of the House? And what about the reprehensible activity of those titans of our financial system, today’s “malefactors of great wealth?” Did these people have poverty-stricken childhoods in which their role models were crooks? Of course not! They were/are merely men, not angels, from whom we need to be protected by government. That is a concept that seems to elude Gingrich and all of his colleagues, so busy pandering to the Tea Party they have abandoned the traditional Republican commitment to good, if small, government. But Teddy Roosevelt is not the only Republican with whose policies today’s Republicans are at fierce odds. Here is what earlier Republican leaders advocated and achieved:
Alexander Hamilton, the father of the Federalist Party, which faded and then was resurrected as the Republican Party, was a staunch advocate of building roads and canals, and we did so.
Abraham Lincoln was the prime mover behind the creation of the Trans-Continental Railroad, described by historian Stephen E. Ambrose as “Nothing Like It In The World.”
Teddy Roosevelt, in addition to his other enlightened policies, gave us the Panama Canal.
Calvin Coolidge was President when the Airmail Act of 1925 and the Air Commerce Act of 1926 became law and gave us the first federal assistance for the creation of airports and the rationalization of air travel and commerce.
Dwight Eisenhower, as President Obama noted in his speech, signed the bills enacting the Interstate Highway System and the National Defense Education Act.
Richard Nixon continued the space program, from which so many positive developments flowed, and also gave us the Environmental Protection Agency.
Where do Republican leaders stand today in relation to these achievements of their predecessors? No money for infrastructure if that involves raising taxes. Reduce funding for education and fire teachers. Eliminate the EPA. Stop government from issuing regulations. Oppose protection of consumers. Attack support for research in energy-saving projects. The list goes on.
President Obama said in Osawatomie: “…we shouldn’t want to win a race to the bottom….The race we want to win—the race we can win—is the race to the top; the race for good jobs that pay well and offer middle class security. Business will create those jobs in countries with the highest-skilled, highest-educated workers; the most advanced transportation and communications; the strongest commitment to research and technology……Today, manufacturers and other companies are setting up shop in places with the best infrastructure to ship their products, move their workers, and communicate with the rest of the world.”
It is abundantly clear that today’s Tea Partyers are perfectly content to lead us in a race to the bottom. They see that as the path to victory over President Obama, regardless of the cost to the country. President Obama, by calling upon us to win the race to the top through the indispensable support of an active government, is the true heir, not only to the progressive Democratic traditions, but to the traditions of moderate Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. These men recognized that government was needed not only to achieve common goals but to protect the common good from rapacious treatment at the hands of the “malefactors of great wealth.” Yes, President Madison, men (and women) are not angels, and we do need government as a result. It was good to hear the President defend it.
