A Lesson From The Past!

There was a day when politicians from either party upheld the constitution. In 1887, Congress passed a bill giving money to suffering farmers in Texas who were victim of a drought. Today this would have been rubber stamped and the check would be in the mail. Here's how Grover Cleveland,(A democrat), handled entitlements....

" I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan, as proposed by this bill, to indulge a benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of funds for that purpose. I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the constitution, and I do not believe that the power and the duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering, which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard, the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people."

Man, could our Government take a lesson from that paragraph! He goes on to tell us how this problem should be properly handled by our nation!

"The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizen in misfortune. This has been repeated and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weaken the sturdiness of our national character; while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."

President Grover Cleveland was absolutely correct on all fronts. Not only did he defend the Constitution but he correctly predicted Americans would respond in kind. They donated ten times the money allocated by Congress for the aid of the stricken farmers.

Isn't it interesting that before the Democratic party was infected by the socialist agenda cloaked by secular progressive's influencing the party's policies, they had America's best interests in mind? I propose we move to a five party system so voters have an accurate idea who they are voting for. On the right we have the "Conservative Constitutionalists" , then as we move more to the center the "Republicans" as we know them now. The "Independents" would cover the middle, with a slight shift to the left awarded to the "Democrats", then the far left socialist agenda would be unveiled as the "Secular Progressive" party. I submit this will help voters understand where their candidate lies policy wise. Too many of us vote along party lines and then say,"Whoa, this isn't what I had in mind." Democrats of today are hijacked by a socialist agenda and don't represent the party of yesteryear. Republicans are in the mix too. In an effort to attract voters they've moved to the center abandoning their conservative values trying to woo independents. The Conservative values are compromised for votes. The five party system allows for the candidate to state his policies and helps voters decide what they are getting for their vote.

Back to the point! President Cleveland had it right! That was how America was designed to work. I was impressed with a politician that had a backbone and stood for his policies. I thought I'd share, so we can look for this type of leadership in the future!

God Bless
Capt. Bill