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| What Government Is For "There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them." ~William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold speech to the Democratic National Convention, 1896 "The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. The strong, the strong they tell us, will inherit the land. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. "We Democrats believe in something else. We Democrats believe
that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact.
And, we have more than once. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted
himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees
-- wagon train after wagon train -- to new frontiers of education,
housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching
out to extend and enlarge that family; lifting them up into the
wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics, and people of every ethnic
group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build
their families and claim some small share of America. "We Democrats must unite so that the entire nation can
unite because surely the Republicans won't bring this country
together. Their policies divide the nation - into the lucky
and the left-out, into the royalty and the rabble. "We Democrats still have a dream. We still believe in this nation's future. And this is our answer to the question, this is our credo: We believe in only the government we need but we insist on
all the government we need. We believe in a government that
is characterized by fairness and reasonableness, a reasonableness
that goes beyond labels, that doesn't distort or promise things
that we know we can't do.We believe in a government strong
enough to use the words "love" and "compassion" and
smart enough to convert our noblest aspirations into practical
realities. We believe in encouraging the talented, but we believe
that while survival of the fittest may be a good working description
of the process of evolution, a government of humans should
elevate itself to a higher order. "And I ask you now - ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters - for the good of all of us - for the love of this great nation, for the family of America - for the love of God. Please, make this nation remember how futures are built." ~ Mario Cuomo, Keynote
speech at 1984 Democratic Convention "The income tax is just. It simply intends to put the burdens of government justly upon the backs of the people. I am in favor of an income tax. When I find a man who is not willing to bear his share of the burdens of the government which protects him, I find a man who is unworthy to enjoy the blessings of a government like ours." ~William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold speech to the Democratic National Convention, 1896 |
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© Sir Kraab. All rights reserved. |
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