Thirty-Two Tweets For Thirty-Two Presidents

LeeEsq in reply to Dan Scotto says:

Having glanced at Cost’s book at Amazon, I can already tell you that the liberal critique is that the ideal conservative republic would do the reverse of what Cost said it would and enshrine special interests above common interests. Before the Progressive Era, with a few exceptions, government was either treated as something way to idealized to be of value to most people or as a way to get rich and give out patronage. Most liberals aren’t that fond of machine politics either but we tend to see it as a natural result of government not having any welfare measures and private charities being run with a clenched fist. People turned to machines like Tammany because they were one of the few sources of relatively easy help available if you fill back on hard times. They only wanted your vote while the Protestant charities needed to vet if you were one of the deserving poor first.

To liberals, the idealized small-r republic of the Conservative actually ads what liberals see as special interests because it really doesn’t do much for the people, often serves as a source of sinecure or at least available employment for the children of the elite, and gives more aid to powerful business interests than anything else, especially before the direct election of Senators. Liberals see the Progressive Era, New Deal, and Great Society as the first time since Reconstruction attempted to help common interests.Report