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Dear Mr. Beck,
I would like to start by saying that you are clearly a very intelligent man, who fervently believes what you are saying. Unfortunately, that also means you are clearly either ignorant, or insane.
At the CPAC convention on February 20th, you made some remarks that showed this quite clearly.
You rail against government taxes, and government programs. You say you got your education for free, because you went to the public library and read. While I certainly applaud you for reading, I suggest you do actual research into something before you speak. THE LIBRARY IS NOT FREE! The only reason you were able to go into the library and get all those books for free is because the library was supported by, you guessed it, TAXES!
And lets not forget that the reason you were able to read at all is because of a public school system that is paid for through taxes.
You say that Progressivism is a cancer that is eating our Constitution. You decry all the supposed evils that the progressive movement has given us, like taxes, but your logic fails, I'm afraid, on a few key points, and the only possible explanation is that if you either skipped the 'History' section of the library, or you ignored the parts you didn't agree with, and didn't think you could use to support your agenda.
First, you speak of the framers of the Constitution as though they were a united block, all believing exactly the same things. Take off the rose-colored glasses, Glenn. Even when they were writing the Declaration of Independence, there were deep divides in the country, even amongst those who wanted independence.
Even a cursory glance through Wikipedia will show you that, at the beginning of our nation as it now stands, there were opposing camps inside the constitutional convention. You had the Virginia and New Jersey plans, before The Great Compromise combined them. And the question of what to do about slavery was so contentious that it threatened to derail the entire process. Which is why, if you read the actual text of the Constitution, as I'm sure you've done, you'll find a section expressly allowing the importation of slaves.
Furthermore, as someone who has read the actual text of the Constitution, you should know that the power to tax is one of Congress's primary powers, laid out in Article I, Section 8. The ability to do an income tax was always there. The only thing the 16th Amendment did was change the ability to tax so that it could be split amongst individuals, whereas before the taxes each state paid were equal regardless of the population or economic conditions of the different states.
And what has the progressive movement done for us? Well, let's take a look, shall we?
Abolition of Slavery - The abolitionist movement was a progressive movement. A progressive movement that spawned the Republican party, I might add.
Child Labor Laws - It is because of the progressive movement that you don't see kids working 15 hour days in sweat shops in the United States any more.
Voting Rights - It was progressives that extended the right to vote to blacks. It was progressives that fought to allow women to vote. It was progressives that fought to remove white-only primaries, poll taxes, and other barriers to allowing people to vote.
Social programs to help the needy - I'm talking about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Yes, they have problems, but they at least make it so that when you get too old to work, you don't have to mooch off your kids, or starve. Or perhaps you'd like your kids to put you out on an ice floe when you get older, like the Eskimos do?
I could go on, but you get the point. Is there an extreme fringe to the progressive movement? Of course. But then there's an extreme fringe to the conservative movement, as well. Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself.
Sincerely,
Stuart Grosse
Independent
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