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When Democrats Say ‘the People,’ They Mean ‘the Government’

Sep 1, 2020 6:00 pm By Robert Spencer

My latest in the American Thinker:

In his inaugural address, Donald Trump announced that “today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another — but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People. For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country…. That all changes — starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

These were stirring words, but they were the sort of thing presidents have said for ages. Back in his first inaugural address in 1913, Woodrow Wilson decried the fact that “the great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people.” In his first inaugural address in 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower asserted that “we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve.” And in his January 1996 state of the union address, Bill Clinton declared: “We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there’s not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over… Our goal must be to enable all our people to make the most of their own lives — with stronger families, more educational opportunity, economic security, safer streets, a cleaner environment in a safer world.”

However, as Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster explains, Trump’s declaration that he was transferring power back to the people actually heralded a move away from big government, not toward it. Trump’s words didn’t herald a push to expand government power under the guise of working for the people. On the contrary, he was determined to expand the freedom Americans enjoyed and roll back government power. A new era had begun in American politics: for the first time in over a century, the rule of “the people” did not mean the rule of the government.

This equation has been taken for granted since the election of 1896, when a key issue was currency. The Republican platform committed the party to the gold standard, which prevented the production of so much currency as to lead to inflation. A minority of Republicans and a significant majority of Democrats, however, supported the free coinage of silver, which would lead to inflation and thereby make it easier for farmers to pay off their debts. That rapidly rising prices were rendering the life savings of Americans essentially worthless did not trouble the silver advocates, who cloaked their case for what was essentially the government’s assumption of the debts of private citizens in the language of support for the plight of the common man. Forgotten in all the controversy was that when the government does something, it is the taxpayers who pay for it….

There is much more. Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: Featured, Robert Spencer Tagged With: Rating America's Presidents


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Comments

  1. tom parry says

    Sep 1, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    Looking forward to your book. Thanks for the preview. Stay strong

  2. curious george says

    Sep 1, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    The Attempt to Overthrow America

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16430/overthrow-america

    • curious george says

      Sep 2, 2020 at 3:55 pm

      Radical Democrats Have Become ‘Adversaries of Freedom’ / JFK’s address to Congress in 1961 warned about the subversion we now experience.

      http://michaelcutler.net/radical-democrats-have-become-adversaries-of-freedom-jfks-address-to-congress-in-1961-warned-about-the-subversion-we-now-experience/

  3. gravenimage says

    Sep 1, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    When Democrats Say ‘the People,’ They Mean ‘the Government’
    ……………..

    Yep.

  4. Wellington says

    Sep 1, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    From before William Jennings Bryan, to William Jennings Bryan, to after William Jennings Bryan, I say I will not be crucified on the cross of government.

    Yes, this is what I say.

    • Rufolino says

      Sep 2, 2020 at 10:11 am

      Do you include in that the current Administration ?

      Nancy Pelosi might agree with you. She recently called the President “an enemy of the State”, which sounded to me (from a long way away) like a brazen invitation to sedition.

      • Wellington says

        Sep 2, 2020 at 10:40 am

        The current administration is doing more, express it any way you wish—drain the Swamp, get rid of the Deep State, etc.—to lessen the role of government than anyone since Reagan and even Reagan couldn’t get rid of a single government program which is why he said that the closest thing to eternal life on earth is a government program. Reagan also said that not only is the government not the solution, it is the problem. Trump has been acting upon this very valid assumption but there are so many entrenched interests in Washington that he has been fighting a very lonely battle. Just as one small example of how bloated government has become and those around Trump who believe as he does: Michelle Obama had 24-25 assistants when First Lady; Melania Trump has 7-10.

        There is also the additional problem of state and local government. There are way too many government officials and administrators in both and who are sucking up the money of taxpayers at an ever increasing rate in many areas. I just had to pay a school tax of some $4,561 and this doesn’t count the county tax and the township tax. There are also sales taxes, state income tax and arguably the most immoral of all taxes—the death taxes, both estate and inheritances levies. Here in America we are suffering from a very bad case of TMG (Too Much Government). Trump knows this and has done a lot by way of executive orders to correct this (this is why before Covid we were at record low unemployment levels). He has also had Congress reduce the federal income tax, though still not nearly enough. America is drowning in government and Trump knows this and has done his best to rectify this situation but he is opposed by so many.

        • curious george says

          Sep 2, 2020 at 12:05 pm

          Wellington

          +1

          I just stumbled across this amusing article.

          Origin of Left and Right, dated 9.11.12 posted by Patti Kline.

          Member Comments:
          Origin of Left & Right…( Just had to share this )

          I have often wondered why it is that Conservatives are called the
          “right” and Liberals are called the “left.”

          By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:

          “The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the
          fool to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

          Thus sayeth the Lord. Amen.

          Can’t get any simpler than that.

          And now for a Spelling Lesson…

          The last four letters in American……….I Can
          The last four letters in Republican…….I Can
          The last four letters in Democrats……..Rats

          End of lesson… test to follow November 6, 2012.

          Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent removal month
          …………………………………………………………………………………………..

          Please get out and vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, encourage your family, friends and neighbors. .

          “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”
          – Samuel Adams (1722-1803)

        • Wellington says

          Sep 2, 2020 at 6:34 pm

          Really relish, curious george, the “last four letters” stuff. So fitting, damning and telling.

        • gravenimage says

          Sep 2, 2020 at 11:58 pm

          Of course, “right” and “left” in the political sense originally referred to seating arrangements in the French Parliament.

  5. tgusa says

    Sep 1, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    Beyond idiocy. The dem supported mobs are coming for the establishment. The mob hates the establishment and seeks to burn it all down and kill them all. On the other side is of the coin a huge number of people have grown to absolutely despise the dems and their mobs. The dems have no idea on what they are promoting and I believe all of it has gone past the point of no return for them. A week old corpse would be capable of making better decisions than the dems.

  6. Rooster says

    Sep 2, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    Nancy Pelosi, wicked witch of the West, has enhaled or sniffed a bit too much while in her Napa Valley estate. She’s the epitome of evil in the Demoncratic Party. She will eventually implode and hopefully fade away.

    Trump will have another four years to continue fixing the damage Hussein Obama did to our government. Muslim Presidents are poison to our Republic!

  7. Mach1Duck says

    Sep 2, 2020 at 1:37 pm

    We are not a representative government. After we elect a Congressman or Senator, they vote on issues as it suits them, often not the people they represent. There are many issues confronting Americans, immigration, inflation, jobs, health, housing…etc. Are these issues being addressed or just lip service. We, the citizens must insist that our representatives do the job they were sent to the city, county, state on nation to do. Implement recall on all elected officials.

  8. James Lincoln says

    Sep 2, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    test post

  9. OLD GUY says

    Sep 2, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    The problem is only a small number of people follow what is going on in our government and who our elected officials are really representing, usually it’s those with the deep pockets. Until these elected officials are recalled or not reelected not much will change.

  10. Michael Casmer says

    Sep 3, 2020 at 11:11 am

    From what I remember (some one may correct me) that the terms “left” and “right Originated during the Middle Ages at the University of the Sobonne in Paris referring to the right and left banks of the Seine. The more radical students tended to gather on the left side and the more conservative on the right bank. Who knows?

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 3, 2020 at 11:13 pm

      Michael, see my post of Sep 2, 2020 at 11:58 pm above.

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