Post by TomLine on Nov 18, 2016 13:07:30 GMT -5
NOW A DEMOCRAT
by Tom Lineaweaver
by Tom Lineaweaver
Yesterday (11-17-16) I registered as a Democrat. Here's why.
You could say I'm coming home. In 1974 I was 18, and I registered as a Democrat. The first person I voted to be President was President Carter. Then I became a Republican to support Ronald Reagan. After Reagan the Republican Party seems to keep on nominating people that could not win, and thank God for that. The Republican Party made a shift after Reagan. They have become a bunch of deplorable warmongers. Even today there are those that want to go to war with Iran, for absolutely no reason, or at least not a true reason. As they did with Iraq, they are lying about the reasons to go to war with Iran. So, I haven't felt comfortable as a Republican for some time. But I kept hoping the party would be fixed. But, it never happened. So then I just started meandering from one movement to another. Recently I decided to get back to my roots.
How do I determine my roots? Well, it has to do with the way I was allowed to be raised. And what has happened since then. All my life I have looked at life from the bottom up. I have always cared about the downtrodden and oppressed even when I was a little boy. I have to tell this story.
In elementary school, first or second grade, our class went on a trip to Philadelphia. Our bus had to take a detour through an old section of town, on a cobble stone street. We passed a man that looked like he hadn't bathed or shaved in a long time. Clothes were tattered, and he was sitting on a step eating a can of sardines with his fingers. Everyone on the bus laughed, except me. I felt sorry for him. Were I to make an analogy applicable today, I was the lone Democrat on a bus full of Republicans.
There has been a common perception that Democrats care more about the little guy than do Republicans. That hasn't shown in politics since Kennedy. Kennedy was the last President we've had that cared about people, and he was a Democrat. Some might think that Carter cared about people. If he did, he would not have done to the economy what he did, taking us off the Silver Standard and the economy took a nose dive, hurting a lot of people. Some people believe Reagan fixed it, but he didn't. He simply put a bandaid on a gunshot wound. But the bleeding continued.
Anyone that claims to care about people would undo what was done to harm the economy. The Federal Reserve Act must be repealed, and we must get back on the Gold and Silver Standard. And we must end the Income Tax. Kennedy, a Democrat, was the last President that tried to fix things, and he was shot.
Kennedy warned us about a Global conspiracy that is today rather much in control of our Country. We need a President that will pick up where Kennedy left off. I don't see that possibility among Republicans. Certainly not Donald Trump.
My favorite Presidents were Democrat, mostly. Washington was none partisan. Thomas Jefferson, James Buchanan and John F. Kennedy were Democrats. They are my favorite Presidents. My least respected Presidents are Lincoln and the Bushes. They were/are Republicans. What does that tell you? It tells you that my attitude is more in line with the Democrat Party than Republican Party.
And that is how I determine my roots.
I realize that political Democrats since Kennedy has not shown they care about people. But I do believe grassroots Democrats still do. There is a schism between grassroots Democrats and elite Democrats. Bernie Sanders tried to tap into the grassroots Democrats. But he did not have the attitude that he wanted to do the right thing to help people. All he suggested was more Government programs and spending, and that is the thing that got us into the economic problems we have in the first place. Bernie was certainly right about the problems, but wrong about the solutions.
As a Democrat I hope we can build a Jefferson, Buchanan, Kennedy coalition. Both Jefferson and Buchanan were Constitutionalist. In fact I read an article that stated that the word Buchanan used most often was "unconstitutional." There are not to many articles or videos that are positive about Buchanan. But what they considered as negative, I consider as positive. You can read about President Buchanan here: www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/james-buchanan
That article states, "Buchanan asserted that states did not have the right to secede; however, he also believed he had no constitutional power to stop them." And Buchanan was right. Look at Article 2 of the Constitution. The Constitution does not grant the President any power over individual States. In fact, except in a few limited cases, the Constitution grants the Federal Government no power over the States at all. However, the President certainly has the power to enforce the Constitution, even against States that violate the Constitution. But, since secession isn't even mentioned in the Constitution Buchanan was right. States are neither given the right to secede, nor denied that right. So, if a State secedes, the Federal Government has no power to stop it. Therefore the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, violated the Constitution when he went to war with the States that seceded.
Grover Cleveland was another President I have respect for, and he was a Democrat as well. He was far from perfect, but he had some positions I agree with. You can read about him here: www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/grover-cleveland
In that article we read, "Cleveland considered himself a watchdog over Congress rather than an initiator." Today, we need a watchdog over Congress. If I become President, like President Cleveland, I would probably use the veto power a lot. The article also says, "He tried to reduce government spending, using the veto more often than any other president up to that point."
What about his Foreign Policy? The article says, "Cleveland was a noninterventionist in foreign policy and fought to have protective tariffs lowered." He want to get along with other Countries, not fight them.
Protective tariffs seem to have no place today. But we can't let imports outsell products made in America. That's why I propose an Import Sales Tax which you can see here: line2016.freeforums.net/thread/292/rescue-america-ultimate-tax-plan
The article says he, "Opposed to using legislation to bring about social change." Social change should be in the hands of the people, not forced down our throats by any branch of Government including the Supreme Court.
The conclusion of the article is, "After leaving the White House in 1897, Cleveland retired to his home in Princeton, New Jersey, and served as a trustee of Princeton University from 1901 until his death. He refused overtures from his party to run again for the presidency in 1904. His health began to fail rapidly at the end of 1907 and he died of a heart attack at the age of 71 on June 24, 1908. According to two of Cleveland’s biographers, his last words were, 'I have tried so hard to do right.'"
His last words are impressive, and if I become President, I will try so hard to do right.
Of course, not all Democratic Presidents were all that great. Woodrow Wilson, for example, which you can read about here: www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/woodrow-wilson
Whatever good Wilson may have done while in office, it is overshadowed by the bad he has done. He signed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. And the income tax and IRS came into being also in 1913. And without any good reason he asked Congress for a Declaration of War against Germany.
Then came FDR, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal was simply Government programs and spending that we are contending with today. No President since, Democrat or Republican tried to fix this problem. Even President Kennedy didn't do anything about this problem. Some have said that Johnson's Great Society was already in the works when Kennedy was President. Somehow, I don't believe that. If it were true that would mean he placated the global conspiracy he warned us about.
The Republican Party has been pro big government since their inception. For some reason, Government seems to grow more during Republican Administrations than Democratic. But, at some point in time the Democratic Party elites became pro big government going against the heritage and grassroots of the Democratic Party.
From Jefferson to Wilson, Democrats have been pro people. From Wilson to today, with the exception of Kennedy, Democratic Presidents have been pro government. And what is the result? Republicans are firmly in power. They will have all of Washington DC come January. They have most State Governorships and State Legislatures.
How can we change this? The Democratic Party must return to its roots, and become a pro people party again.
If you're a Democrat, and you agree, come join the Rescue America team... line2016.freeforums.net/thread/364/join-team
And come support...
TOM LINEAWEAVER DEMOCRAT FOR PRESIDENT 2020