?

150 years ago: "I got a right to force other people to tend to my fields. D'ya hear me? A RIGHT!"

Today: "I got a right to force other people to pay for my health care. D'ya hear me? A RIGHT!"

"In some states, such as Alabama and California, the KKK worked for political reform. In 1924, the Klan became active in local politics in Anaheim, California. The city had been controlled by an entrenched commercial-civic elite. The Klansmen were among the foremost advocates of better public schools, effective prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction, and other political measures which benefited lower-class white people. By 1925, the Klan was a political force in the state, as leaders such as J. Thomas Heflin, David Bibb Graves, and Hugo Black - with help from the Klan - worked against the Black Belt planters, who had long dominated the state."

"In 1926, with Klan support, Bibb Graves won the Alabama governor's office. He was a Klan chapter head. He pushed for increased education funding, better public health, new highway construction, and pro-labor legislation. Because the Alabama state legislature refused to redistrict until 1972, however, even the Klan was unable to break the planters' and rural areas' hold on legislative power."

--After Wilson; The Struggle for the Democratic Party.

And this was BEFORE the parties supposedly 'switched' ideologies. I don't see any Republicans calling for a welfare state like the racist lefties are!

"In some states, such as Alabama and California, the KKK worked for political reform. In 1924, the Klan became active in local politics in Anaheim, California. The city had been controlled by an entrenched commercial-civic elite. The Klansmen were among the foremost advocates of better public schools, effective prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction, and other political measures which benefited lower-class white people. By 1925, the Klan was a political force in the state, as leaders such as J. Thomas Heflin, David Bibb Graves, and Hugo Black - with help from the Klan - worked against the Black Belt planters, who had long dominated the state."

"In 1926, with Klan support, Bibb Graves won the Alabama governor's office. He was a Klan chapter head. He pushed for increased education funding, better public health, new highway construction, and pro-labor legislation. Because the Alabama state legislature refused to redistrict until 1972, however, even the Klan was unable to break the planters' and rural areas' hold on legislative power."

--After Wilson; The Struggle for the Democratic Party.

Corporatism is often thrown to imply a system of government captured by private corporate interests. What does San Jose State University say? Well, like most economics or political science professors they will tell you that "The basic idea of corporatism is that the society and economy of a country should be organized into major interest groups (sometimes called corporations) and representatives of those interest groups settle any problems through negotiation and joint agreement."

Well now, that sounds like some kind of collectivist philosophy to me! Society is organized into interest groups, and they use some kind of centralized government to hammer out the negotiations. This is what Mussolini meant when he famously declared fascism to be a form of corporatism - he was not referring to what we have in America where banks and big manufacturers know that they can constantly come to the government for as much money or legislative protection as they could possibly want. Actually, Mussolini would have probably executed the CEOs if they tried to hold the economy of Italy hostage for the sake of bailouts and infinite loan guarantees - that kind of greed isn't a rational compromise of society's competing interests, its a giveaway to the most powerful ones.

More accurate ways to describe the political economy of America might be crony capitalism, a failed (or captured) state, regulatory capture run amok... etc... But corporatism? By definition, no.

...the surplus under Clinton?

He says to give to the poor, which more conservatives do than liberals, but if Jesus was a socialist shouldn't he have said to TAKE money from the rich?

"In some states, such as Alabama and California, the KKK worked for political reform. In 1924, the Klan became active in local politics in Anaheim, California. The city had been controlled by an entrenched commercial-civic elite. The Klansmen were among the foremost advocates of better public schools, effective prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction, and other political measures which benefited lower-class white people. By 1925, the Klan was a political force in the state, as leaders such as J. Thomas Heflin, David Bibb Graves, and Hugo Black - with help from the Klan - worked against the Black Belt planters, who had long dominated the state."

"In 1926, with Klan support, Bibb Graves won the Alabama governor's office. He was a Klan chapter head. He pushed for increased education funding, better public health, new highway construction, and pro-labor legislation. Because the Alabama state legislature refused to redistrict until 1972, however, even the Klan was unable to break the planters' and rural areas' hold on legislative power."

--After Wilson; The Struggle for the Democratic Party.

Is it because opinions we disagree with must be outlawed to show how tolerant we are?

And how come it's alright to support the preservation of the Native American race, but not the white race? Why is race so important in a society that deems everyone to be equal?

Personally, I don't care if someone makes more money than someone else, so long as everyone has a job, a home, and a reasonable standard of living.

-Romneycare...

-"I am for people, individuals–exactly like automobile insurance–individuals having health insurance and being required to have health insurance." -- Newt Gingrich.

Then wouldn't increasing the cost of labour decrease employment?

"In some states, such as Alabama, members of the KKK worked for political and social reform. The state's Klansmen were among the foremost advocates of better public schools and increased education funding, effective prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction including new highways, better public health, pro-labor legislation and other political measures which benefited lower-class white people." - After Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, 1920–1934

I hear lefties saying that a Democrat pre-civil rights act would be like a modern day Republican, but Republicans don't support these kind of measures!

"In some states, such as Alabama, members of the KKK worked for political and social reform. The state's Klansmen were among the foremost advocates of better public schools and increased education funding, effective prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction including new highways, better public health, pro-labor legislation and other political measures which benefited lower-class white people." - After Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, 1920–1934

I hear lefties saying that a Democrat pre-civil rights act would be like a modern day Republican, but Republicans don't support these kind of measures!