Friday, September 24, 2010

Original Intent?

The GOP wants to bring our country back to the "original intent" of the US Constitution.

They do know that the "original intent" did not include Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to own guns, etc, right? The Bill of Rights was a requirement that the states demanded in order to agree to ratify the original Constitution, and was passed by Congress AFTER that certification. So, did "original intent" include them, or not?

They do know that the 40 hour work week was not part of the original intent of the Constitution, right? Supreme Courts had ruled this, and other free-market intrusions of government like child labor and L&I insurance, unconstitutional until the 1930's. So if the GOP wants to go back to the original intent, would they rule those basic workplace protections as against what the founders intended?

One specific thing that was included in the Supreme Court rulings was denial of the ability of the government to create Unemployment Insurance. So, if the GOP wants to go back to the original intent, that means the people who are currently unemployed would be thrown to the free market. Same with Social Security and Medicare. The GOP has ALWAYS wanted to repeal those entitlement programs instead of fixing them and making them sustainable. They would rather throw our seniors and kids to the good graces of our charities. Which receive and control less than 5% of the capital available for those programs through government intrusion into the market place. People would starve, freeze and die of illness. That's the GOP.

The GOP wants to give the DENIED stamp back to the private health insurance companies. Their "Pledge to America" would very simply Plunge America into a Second Great Depression. A second Republican Great Depression.

We will get the kind of government that we vote for. If you believe that government should be used to help people, to establish a foundation for everyone so we can reach for our potential and reach for the stars, then please vote Democrat. Not because we're the least worst option, but because the Democratic Party is the ONLY option to keep our country moving in a positive direction.

Keep our nation in Drive. Vote D.

1 comment:

Michael Goff said...

If you want to carry the absurdity of "Original Intent" further, it would have to include slavery, which the authors of the Constitution recognized must be allowed in order to get support. Up until the Civil War, supporters of slavery hid behind the Constitution and "states' rights", but such high ideals were never the main objective. The same is true for supporters of the Jim Crow system. Standing armies and the Louisiana Purchase are suspect as well.

Dealing with similar kinds of criticisms of his programs, Theodore Roosevelt remarked that the purpose of the Constitution is to serve the people, not the other way around. The modern GOP talks a good game about individual freedom, but is all too willing to sacrifice individual well-being to such ideals as "Original Intent", or "the free market", etc.