Breaking the Political Gridlock with a Progressive Movement

Part II. Chapter 2. Breaking the Political Gridlock with a Progressive Movement

From Dan Riker's Let's Do What Works and Call it Capitalism

"Our country — this great republic — means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long run, of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him...."

"The object of government is the welfare of the people."

- Theodore Roosevelt, "The New Nationalism" August 31, 1910

There is only one peaceful way the gridlock in the American political system can be broken: One party has to win control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and keep that control for a sustained period of time. To reverse the course of the last 30 years, the Democratic Party has to be the victorious party, and for the Democrats to do what needs to be done, progressives have to be in control of that party.

A separate Progressive Party is not a viable alternative. The existing political parties are too well established. The closest any third party ever came to winning a national election was in 1912 when Theodore Roosevelt, one of most popular public figures in American history, ran on the Progressive ticket and finished second to the relatively unknown Democrat, Woodrow Wilson. If a Theodore Roosevelt, a popular former President, could not win a national election as a third party candidate, it seems unlikely that anyone else could. 

Because they can tilt elections to the candidate their supporters were least likely to support, third parties have trouble raising the money to properly finance a national political campaign. For example, Ralph Nader's candidacy in 2000 frequently is blamed for having cost Al Gore the election. His vote in Florida, which it is popularly believed would have gone to Gore if he had not run, was more than the difference between Gore and Bush. As a result of that election, and others, it has become nearly impossible for third parties to raise large amounts of money.

It also isn't necessary for progressives to form a third party. All progressives have to do is to gain control of the Democratic Party. The Tea Party has shown how it can be done. But first, it is important to define the meaning of progressivism.

The goals of conservative idealists of greater personal freedom, expanded economic opportunities, and free markets, are the same as those of most progressives, and, for that matter, of most Americans. Progressives believe in free enterprise, but not in unfettered capitalism. They know from our history that unbridled capitalism, which most of today's Republican leaders support, is the enemy of personal freedom, economic opportunity and free markets. The weaker, smaller government the Republicans say they want, cannot sustain and protect freedom, opportunity, and, especially, free enterprise. And such protection by government has never been needed more than in this era of dominance of the major businesses and industries by giant oligopolies and multinational corporations, and their enormous consolidation of wealth and power.

The heart of progressivism is the view that government serves the people, that public officials have a duty to act honorably, responsibly and honestly, and that, as Lincoln said, government does what the people need done but cannot do for themselves.

The governing principles of Progressivism come right from the Preamble to the Constitution that sets out the reasons why the United States was created: “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility; provide for the common defence; promote the general welfare: and security the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” 

An effective government, justice, personal security, national security, general welfare, and liberty are the principles upon which the United States was created, and they should be the principles of the modern Progressive movement.  And an effective Progressive message, coupled with strong and effective leadership, and a solid, practical program that addresses today's needs with some truly big ideas to inspire the people, can attract a huge following of the American people, and restore the American Dream.

Our history shows that the types of government actions needed to shift the national economy into high gear to restore middle class opportunities, and the American Dream, are exactly the opposite of what Republicans support: dramatically increased government expenditures to rebuild America, improve economic opportunities, a minimum wage that supports a decent living, increased taxes on the wealthy, proper regulation of business and finance, dramatically increased expenditures on public education coupled with a reduction, or elimination of college costs, major programs to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels, and an expansion and improvement of the major social programs, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Many continue to view government as an enemy of personal freedom, when it actually may be its only effective protector. Self-independence and individual freedom are meritorious and consistent with our heritage, but extremely difficult for the average individual to achieve in a mass, urbanized society dominated by multinational corporations controlled by oligarchies. Government has a vital role to play in restoring the economic health of the American middle class, reducing poverty, and positioning the United States to continue to be the world leader into the next century.

Some consider Lincoln to have been the first progressive President, and the only one before Theodore Roosevelt. But he was President before big industries had formed, before the trusts and the robber barons, before the Second Industrial Revolution. Still, in his first message to Congress, in 1861, he conveyed the philosophy:

“This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men -- to lift artificial weights from all shoulders -- to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all -- to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.”

Now we are experiencing a second “Gilded Age,” with many of the same kinds of economic inequalities, including concentration of wealth, lessened opportunities, and greater financial instability and insecurity, that characterized the first one. To correct the abuses and restore economic equilibrium, we need to generate a new Progressive political movement at all levels, national, state and local, with a core program of aggressive initiatives of sufficient magnitude and obvious benefit to the greatest possible number of people that they will generate wide support.

In his State of the Union speech to Congress in February, 2013, President Obama addressed this issue by saying, “Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?”

It should be obvious that the restoration of the American Dream can only happen if progressives gain control of governments, the federal government, and most of the state governments. Can this happen? How can it happen? Those are the subjects of the following chapters.