...how did we get to this point as a nation?
The fall from Founding principles.....
into utopian statism.
The System
How We Got Here, What It Is, and How We Break It
"We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . . "
Declaration of Independence
The Constitution
James Madison
and the Founders
Where are we today?
The Progressive Narrative
Perfectability of Man
In 1899 the Minnesota Legislature passed the first Direct Primary law.
Wisconsin became the first state to use Direct Primaries for all state elections in 1903.
By 1915, all but 3 states were using Direct Primaries to choose party nominees.
An attempt to replace party conventions with state-run, direct primaries.
Direct Primaries
So, where are we now?
TOP TEN INDUSTRIES
Pharmaceuticals - $199,323,702
Insurance - $122,065,251
Oil & Gas - $120,669,855
Electric Utilities - $108,163,536
Business Associations - $92,696,817
Computers/Internet - $88,847,937
Manufacturing & Distributing - $84,363,782
TV/Movies/Music - $77,861,927
Hospitals/Nursing Homes - $77,465,842
Education - $73,913,389
Lobbyists
GOVERNMENT SPENDING
Over 40,000 in DC
75:1 ratio vs. Congressmen
THE SWAMP
LOSS OF TRUST
Washington and others realized Articles were not working. A new form of government was needed.
Convention in Philadelphia, 1787
Stronger national government
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
What is the role of government?
"We the People"
"If men were angels . . ."

Most Founders were lifelong realists about human nature
"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."
Government never intended to be all things to all people.
Founders believed power should never be concentrated
because of corrupting influence and
imperfect humanity.
"The American Experiment is a story of progress toward the fulfillment of equality for all. The federal government is the instrument for achieving the noble virtue of equality, and progressives were the vanguard of progress and virtuous change."
So how is this "virtuous" change brought about?
"Liberalism/Progressivism is about using State power to enforce the current elitist cultural 'zeitgeist.' . . . . There is no broader intellectual, social, moral, or policy underlying liberalism/progressivism. . . . Conservatism . . . is 
the intellectual heir of [the Founders'] classical liberalism, which has a history of government distrust, individual rights, and social morality."
Theodore Roosevelt

U.S. President 
Republican Progressive
Formed the Progressive Party, known as the Bull Moose Party
Herbert Croly
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Named to the U.S. Supreme Court by Theodore Roosevelt
Holmes questioned the historical underpinnings of much of Anglo-American jurisprudence: "The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience."
Considered one of the "giants" of American law.
Robert LaFollette

Governor of Wisconsin, 1901-1906
U.S. Senator, 1906-1925
Ran for President in 1924 as the nominee of the his own Progressive Party
Leaders get elected, promising great change.

They come to DC or the state capitol, and they confront the System

Instead of changing the System, many become
part of it.
Instead of being about serving the people, long-time incumbents, the ruling class, begin serving their own interests and those of the patronage system. Don't think the people are watching, so serving those who are.

76% of Americans today believe the ruling class serving its own interests before that of the American people. Only 21% of Americans believe that their government has the consent of the governed.
It is time to renew the Founding principles
of limited government, free enterprise, and 
individual freedom. If renewed, America will rise to even greater heights.
It's time to break the System and 
return this government back to 
serving "We the People."
"Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it."
 
-Roosevelt
Croly proposed a three-pronged program: the nationalization of large corporations, the strengthening of labor unions, and a strong central government.
Founded "The New Republic" Magazine
Leading Progressive intellectual
Heavy influence on people like Theodore Roosevelt and Felix Frankfurter
For Holmes, the law was nothing more that what judges actually did. He despised individualism, thought the idea of "rights" nonsense, and favored statism. His statism, of course, was compatible with progressive beliefs, for progressives favor state regulation of economic matters.
LaFollette implemented his "Wisconsin Idea" as Governor. 

Foundation of the Progressive Movement
Employment of technical experts for public service
Direct primary nomination
Railroad regulation
Tax reform
Direct election of senators
Concentrated Power for Virtuous Progress
According to Pew Research, 80% of Americans are
unhappy with how things are going in this country.
Rasmussen Poll shows that only 21%
of Americans believe our government
has the consent of the governed.
CNN found that 56% of Americans believe that our federal government
poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of U.S. citizens.
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men."
Government does not give rights: a Creator does. Government
there to secure the rights and take none of them away.
We have a runaway bureaucracy.
We have unrepresentative government.
Australian Ballots
Secret ballots printed by government, not by parties.
Enacted between 1884-1891.
Made it significantly more difficult for illiterate and non-English speaking voters to participate; previously ballots colored with party symbol.
Direct Election of Senators
Brought about by the 17th Amendment.
1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
Progressivism, however, is not a march towards equality, but a steady erosion of liberty.
Between 1912-1920, the Progressives implemented:

The Federal Reserve
Enforcement of the Interstate Commerce Commission
Federal Trade Commission
Food and Drug Administration
Passed the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th Amendments
Instituted the income tax
Founded the Internal Revenue Service
Progressives make the wrong assumption that 
man is perfectable.
Our Founders believed that man, while capable
of great good, is incapable of sustained good. They
believed in an imperfect humanity in an imperfect
world.
“. . . men are ambitious, vindictive and rapacious. . . .[to ignore the reality of human nature] would be to disregard the uniform course of human events, and to set at defiance the accumulated experience of ages.”
One of the tenets of Progressives is that concentrated power
in the hands of government and an educated elite is good because
it advances virtuous progress.
Our Founders believed, that because of the fallability
of man, that power should never be too concentrated.
Thus our separation of powers, but also the idea of limited
government.
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
Progressives: Utopian Statists

Founders: Optimistic Realists
Officials decide they like the power and the perks; want to seek re-election.

How do they win re-election? Loyalty
to senior leadership, re-enforced by PAC 
money.

Want to get re-elected to gain seniority, so 
they can "have the power to change things."
But to climb in seniority, officials think loyalty to leadership.

Long-time incumbents gain seniority. Gain chairmanships. Get to dictate the debate. Leadership asks for concessions on spending.

Members think spending will ingratiate voters.
Utopian Statism? The idea that the State is a benevolent force, and that the State, run by the experts, is to be used to mold society.
Much of the media buys into the premise of Statism: pro-Big Gov. For the last 50 years, the old, centralized media, controlling information flow, advocated more government power.
The corporate cronies, the unions, those who seek regulation to reduce competition, etc.
Incumbent control over
nomination process, which 
then controls the System.
Constituents wake up, realize
government spending out of control
and that officials not representing. 
Demand change.
So how do you break the System?
Transparency and "real" information and messaging; Franklin Center, RedState.com, Big Government. But citizen journalists, bloggers and wiki contributors.
New leaders and effective
activists with grassroots muscle to bring greater accountability; American Majority, Smart Girl Politics. But the local groups being focused on these priorities.
Organized resistance. A re-creation of "private parties" or privatized political infrastructure.
Ability to network and resource; American Majority, statewide coalitions. But more importantly, local groups networking nationally.
He who controls
the nominations controls
the party: what if
that was the focus of the tea parties and 9.12 groups? That's why American Majority is doing the New Leaders Project.
Government spending was 2.5% of GDP in 1900 (today, that
wouldn't even pay for Medicare costs).

Leading citizens were engaged in holding elected officials and government
accountable.

Private parties helped ensure that the average tenure of a Congressman was less than two terms.

Government stayed out of the private sector and essentially within its
Constitutional role.
1789-1900
But, during the 20th Century things began to unravel...
Took away private party accountability over elected officials. Political careers no longer dependent on parties.

Undermined Federalism: Senators no longer accountable to state governments.

Deliberate centralization of power into the federal government. After the Progressive "reform," the structure was in place for a century-long expansion of the role of government in American life. (Korbluh)

The good news? We can re-create accountability.
The "War to End All Wars."

The League of Nations to make the world safe for democracy.
 
Humanity to be perfected by advances in society.
Taxpayer-funded lobbyists (un-registered and un-reported) vs. those buying protection from the State vs. the crony capitalist and 
union lobbyists.
47% of American households
don't pay income taxes.

The interest payments alone on our 
national debt will be one trillion dollars by 2020.
If you fold a piece of paper
30x, how thick will it be?
Over 60 miles thick.
Post-Campaign: Accountability and engagement. Franklin Center, RedState, American Majority, Big Government, Smart Girl Politics, etc. But the local groups and citizens engaged in accountability and transparency.
"A wide variety of Progressive reforms restricted partisan control over the [political process], restructured American government at all levels . . . and reshaped the contours of the active electorate. . . . these reforms comprised a major assault on partisan participatory politics." 

- Mark Korbluh
"Why America Stopped Voting"
"[Progressive reform] shifted political decision making away from electoral politics and representative bodies to adminstrative and executive agencies. On the national, state and local levels, party government gave way to bureaucratic government, while interest groups gained increasing political influence and power."

-Korbluh
A reinforcing loop: “. . . in which one action produces a result which influences more of the same action, thus resulting in growth or decline.” It must be understood with reinforcing loops that when they move clockwise, they reinforce themselves, and with every revolution a loop not only grows stronger, it accelerates.