[The Conquistador]

Democrats are liberals and progressives who believe in the expansion of government and more federal control. Republicans are the conservatives who stick up for individual rights, state rights, and smaller government... right?

WRONG!

While there has been truth to both of these statements at one time or another in our modern era... it just isn't that simple. Both sides have expanded freedom, and more often than not, reined it in. So I thought I'd try to provide everyone with a short ideological history of the modern era to show who the real heroes and villains really are.

It is best to start with Republican Herbert Hoover who took the presidency in 1929. While the government had been growing slightly for some years, it was the Hoover administration that started things down the wrong path. In an effort to deal the the Great Depression Hoover began to listen to Keynesian economists... he started make-work programs, raised taxes, and signed the disastrously protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that caused far more economic distress that it could ever have solved. A lot of conservatives like to blame FDR for our problems, but the really bad shit started under Hoover... FDR just took things much, much further.

FDR was a Democrat and an egotistical monster who wanted to be king. Yes, that is harsh, but I'm going to stick by my statement. He did more than anyone in American history to shit all over our Constitution. In a practical sense, we lost our balance of power and very nearly our democracy under FDR. We only gained it back because Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy were better men.

FDR ruled by executive order, declaring things law, and sending them to congress to pass the next day, often without finished text. When the Supreme Court struck down a number of his "New Deal" policies... he threatened to simply nominate a few new justices... the court backed down. FDR also broke President Washington's precedent of only running for two terms, which is essential for balance between the executive and the courts. FDR won four terms... this allowed him to pack the court with a bunch of his ideological cronies who were willing to sign on to any of his schemes.

I'm not done with FDR. His most offensive violation of our Constitution and of human rights was Executive Order 9066 in which he imprisoned over 100,000 Japanese nationals and American Citizens based purely on their race. They lost their homes and their businesses because of this tyrant's rule by fiat. Short of slavery, this was the most flagrant violation of the the wording of our Constitution ever committed. Fuck you FDR... fuck you!

Yup... still not done with FDR. He raised top marginal tax rates as high as 90%, and he ran the farm sector like a command economy with price controls and output quotas. Surprise... farm output went down disasterously. The government started paying large farming operations to destroy crops and livestock during a time of food shortages. FDR redistributed taxes to swing states and political cronies, and sold so much government debt he crowded out all sorts of private investment... making a proper recovery from the Great Depression that much more difficult.

Nobody in private industry could work around federal encroachment in most sectors of the economy, and as a result only large businesses with political ties succeeded while others failed. FDR claimed to be for "the little guy", but government control of the economy left thousands without their farms and businesses. I could go on, but I think I've made my point. FDR was more than a well meaning progressive pushing failed ideas, he was downright sinister.

Harry Truman took office on April, 12 1945 following the death of FDR. Humorously, FDR had left the nation and Truman with one more example of his egomania... Truman hadn't yet been briefed on many issues pertaining to the the war, and had zero knowledge of The Manhattan Project. Keeping Truman out of the loop was a dangerous decision, thankfully Truman didn't drop the ball, and pulled the fucking trigger when given the opportunity to nuke the Japanese... twice!

While Truman was a much more likable and humble man than FDR, he did share many of FDR's political ideas. Thankfully, Truman was not a popular president after the war, and the Republicans were able to do away with many of FDR's price controls, labor laws, and they passed tax cuts over Truman's veto. Truman's "Fair Deal", and his ideas of providing national health insurance never went anywhere. In the end I'm no fan of Harry Truman, but it's hard to argue that his Presidency set us back in any way. I might also add that Truman fought hard for civil rights, and it was Truman who desegregated the US Military. Good work Harry!

The Eisenhower administration was not filled with strict constitutionalists, but Ike was a huge improvement of the tyrant FDR. The Eisenhower administration kept income tax rates high, but they did undo many of the most offensive of FDR's policies. Ike also oversaw the passing of the 22nd Amendment, making George Washington's two term precident law. Eisenhower was also on the right side of the civil rights movement, and enthusiastically enforced the Brown v. Board of Education decision. By 1953, America was in a much better place.

Things start to get really confusing with John F. Kennedy. Kennedy really wasn't very liberal... at least not in the FDR mold. In Fact, Kennedy passed one of the the biggest tax cuts in American history. Top marginal rates fell from about 90% to around 60%. This was certainly a win for those who believe in freedom. Kennedy was also a hawk, though he entered office a bit naive, made some early mistakes, and began our Vietnam entanglement. Kennedy did abuse the FBI and the CIA with illegal wiretaps on political enemies and civil rights leaders... but the real tragedy of the Kennedy administration is his untimely death, which gave his Vice President Lyndon Johnson all the political capital he needed to tear up what was left of The Constitution.