The End of Progressivism - This is War

Copyright by James Carlson

Roosevelt’s Court Packing Scheme of 1937

Here we go again. “This is war, this this, this is war.” Yes, James Carville has decided its time to make war with another Court Packing scheme. A scheme reminiscent of the New Deal Progressives in 1937, who actually got their way by threatening the Supreme Court. The Court ruled contrary to their better judgement then, dismissing what they once held as un-Constitutional; Special Welfare is not General Welfare. The decision in 1937 was called, ‘the switch in time that saved nine.’ Perhaps it’s time to revisit that ruling now that Carville and company are re-introducing a new Court Packing scheme.

And while we’re at it, it’s also time to revisit another decision by the Court that provided cover for ObamaCare. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled in the case National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, that ObamaCare Constitutional because it could be interpreted as a tax. Although the Supreme Court ruled Obama-care to be a tax, this tax is an example of Special Welfare and not General Welfare; thus, it is a violation of the Constitution (Art. 1, Sec. 8). This decision of the Court needs to be reviewed for its Constitutional foundation.  ACA is Special Welfare, as a tax, should be declared un-Constitutional according to Art. 1, Sec. 8.

Recall the famous line from the Declaration…

…let Facts be submitted to a candid world… For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent. 

[Declaration of Independence, 1776]

‘Taxation without Representation’ was a famous line from the American Revolution and this principle was presented in America’s Declaration of Independence 250 years ago. The idea that the government could levy taxes on an entire nation to support a few people is one where Special Welfare takes the place of General Welfare. Although the idea of helping people with their health care is praise worthy, forcing people by law to buy insurance is not. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, has become a government requirement that people buy health insurance or face financial penalties. This is one example of a violation of the principles that our nation was founded on that the Progressive Movement has manipulated.

The reason why it is assumed that ACA (aka ObamaCare) is a Constitutional tax is because of the 1937 decision by the Supreme Court that ruled against the Constitutional principle of Art. 1, Sec. 8. The cartoon above depicts Justice Owen Roberts voting in the case of West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish as a strategic move to save the Court from Roosevelt's plan to expand the number of justices. This is the famous ‘switch in time that saved nine.’ The Court needs to reverse that earlier decision and rule against ACA, both as unconstitutional.

The White House has standing to return to the Court and appeal the 2012 ruling of ACA being Constitutional because it is an un-Constitutional tax according to the Constitution where Article 1, Section 8 provides only for taxation for the General Welfare of the public and not Special Welfare for a limited number of people. If the Court rules in our favor, declaring Special Welfare to be un-Constitutional, this will not only overturn ObamaCare, it will overturn the Court’s decision in 1937, eliminating the faux constitutionality of the entire Progressive Movement.

But let’s not stop there… Let’s look into the future where all Progressive policies are no longer valid and have to be removed (over time). In short, let’s be sure we apply a ramp function and not a step function to reduce the spending on Progressive policies every year, which may take 20-30 years to completely end.

Here’s the strategy… Let’s begin to use that part of Progressive history that Progressives have largely ignored and/or dismissed – the Work Ethic. Let’s review a bit of their history and then return with the details of this strategy.

The New Deal began with the Work Ethic; people wanted a hand up with a job and not a hand out with charity. The New Deal then began to merger into Socialism; the redistribution of wealth is un-Constitutional as Special Welfare is not General Welfare. And again, the New Deal continued to introduce more and more entitlements producing the Welfare State; again this is Special Welfare and not General Welfare – its un-Constitutional despite the 1937 ruling.

So, here’s the strategy… With the work ethic we can change progressive policies to introduce more personal initiative for people who are living on the government’s (read the People’s) dime. Here is a short list of the policies that can be implemented if/when the Supreme Court overturns ObamaCare and the Switch in Time that Saved Nine:

·       Provide part-time employment for part-time Medicare and Medicaid payments

·       Allow senior to work and earn money while receiving no penalties to their Social Security (SS) payments

·       Promote Workfare instead of Welfare

Further, we need to commit to paying all seniors all their Social Security benefits from their Worker’s Retirement Account. They made their life’s financial decision based upon SS benefits and we cannot just pull the rug out from under them.

Further still, we need to limit any and all payments to 15 year olds and younger. They’ve never paid into the SS system and should not expect to receive any payments when they get old as the system is broke. Let’s turn SS off permanently for this younger generation.

It’s not about class warfare or generational warfare, its about promises. Let’s keep the promises we’ve made to the older generation while we stop making promises we cannot keep with a younger generation. Promises made/promises kept. Its about being Promise Keepers.

This is just the beginning but in case you missed it, “This is war, this this, this is war.” It’s time to put an end to the Progressive Movement in American, return our nation to taxation that represents the needs of the Public in General and not those Special few who are chosen for selected benefits. Taxation without Representation was a cause for war then (1776) as it is now.

And always remember…

Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

We can only accomplish what is right when we do what was is right. We will never succeed by doing what is wrong to achieve what is right. That is my firm foundation and I trust you’ll agree.