What progressives stand for

52°

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 10:00 PM

By Ken Trainor

Staff writer

In my Jan. 4 column [What conservatives stand for, Viewpoints], I summarized my understanding of what conservatives stand for, based on what I've been hearing for the past 30 years.

I also challenged conservatives and progressives alike to state what progressives stand for. The only conservative who gave it a shot was Jim Woulfe, a former River Forester who now lives in North Carolina. He simply inverted everything I wrote, assuming, I guess, that progressives believe the opposite of whatever conservatives believe [Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest? Viewpoints, Jan. 18]. Not a serious attempt at dialogue.

Meanwhile, Greg Mumm [The U.S. is a center-liberal country, Viewpoints, Jan. 11] and Bruce Broerman [A more realistic take on progressives, Viewpoints, Jan. 25] offered excellent summaries that conservatives (and progressives) would do well to read (at OakPark.com/News/Viewpoints). Progressives, as I said, need to be much more vocal during this election year about what we stand for so the undecided moderates and independents have a reasonable alternative to conservative extremism.

Here's my (incomplete) list:

Government is not the problem. It is part of the problem and part of the solution.
The free market is not the solution. It is part of the problem and part of the solution.
Government can be overly bureaucratic, wasteful, and oppressive. Corporations can be overly bureaucratic, wasteful, and reckless. Both need to do better.
Government, at its best, checks and balances the brutal excesses of capitalism without strangling economic vitality. It can improve the quality of our lives.
Americans should never fear their government, never despise it and never feel dependent on it.
Government must do more when more is needed and less when less is required. When the free market cannot, or will not, address our problems, government must step in.
More effective government is possible. It requires only the political will.
It is self-defeating to keep voting for those who don't believe in government and have no intention of trying to improve it. Informed citizens should elect only those who believe that government can be a force for good in people's lives.
The first step to improving government is to change our system of legalized bribery, which allows the wealthy to exert disproportionate influence. Free speech and privileged speech are not the same. A corporation is not a person because a corporation has no soul. Campaign finance and lobbying reform are essential.
The greater the gap between the rich and the rest, the haves and have-nots, the weaker our country. The gap will never be eliminated, but we should always work to reduce it, and the rich, who have benefited the most, should pay their fair share. At the moment, they do not.
Limit the use of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Reduce the number of votes needed to override it to 55. Gridlock prevents us from resolving our biggest challenges.
The budget deficit should only be reduced by a combination of budget cuts (that are not excessively severe) and revenue increases (that are not excessively burdensome).
The economy and the ecology are not mutually exclusive. They are inextricably linked. A healthy environment is essential to our health, welfare and economic security. We need to show respect for life planet-wide, not just life in the womb.
Affordable, accessible health care is a right, not a privilege. If the free market cannot create a workable system, government must lead the way.
Free market capitalism cannot be allowed to create a system of economic slavery where the majority of Americans are trapped in a prison of debt.
Rights + Responsibilities = A healthy citizenry. One without the other never works.
Abortion should be safe, legal and rare, as Bill Clinton said. Criminalizing abortion means women would have to surrender control over their own bodies. That will never be accepted. You can't legislate morality. Abortion should be fought in the court of public opinion, not in the Supreme Court.
Regulating the possession of firearms is one of the best ways to show respect for life. Gun ownership should be allowed for recreational use only.
The military should only be called upon as a last resort — or for emergency humanitarian interventions. Never fight another pre-emptive war. Never engage in torture. Never fight two wars at the same time.
Never use terrorism as an excuse to violate citizens' civil liberties.
The "original intent" of the framers of our Constitution is impossible to determine and should only be considered as one of many factors in court rulings.
Separation of church and state is the best way to guarantee religious freedom. No single religious tradition should monopolize the classrooms or the textbooks in our public schools.
Educating the poor poorly widens the damaging divide between the rich and the rest in this country. Don't throw money at the problem. Invest wisely.
Same-sex marriage should be legalized. Tolerance always serves us best.
The tax code should be fair and must provide adequate revenue, which should be spent wisely and efficiently.
Collaboration and cooperation serve us better than rugged individualism. Protecting and promoting the dignity of the individual is the best way to protect and promote the common good. Protecting and promoting the common good is the best way to protect and promote the dignity of the individual. It works both ways. It only works both ways.
Change is necessary. We either progress or we regress. We can't jog in place. Political gridlock must be unlocked.

There is so much more, of course, but this will do for a start.

Why "progressives" instead of "liberals"? They're not synonyms. Thanks to the relentless poisoning of the latter over the last 30 years by conservative media, many people think of liberals as occupying an ideological extreme. Progressives, however, are pragmatic centrists (not to be confused with "moderates" and "independents"). They embrace the best of the past but insist on moving forward, making progress.

Because progress is what this country needs now more than anything else.

Reader Comments

29 Comments - Add Your Comment

Comment Policy

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 10:30 PM

Unfortunately you've resurfaced offering a link to freerepublic.com. I am familiar with it's content. It is unfortunate and somewhat unexpected that you would consider that site to be trustworthy and representative of conservative values and ideals. It is not! The charge that factcheck.org does not perform it's duties accurately and without bias has not been substantiated to my satisfaction. I will continue to rely on them as a source for honest reporting.

Unfortunately

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 9:30 PM

@JC. Annenberg Foundation is today considered to be "liberal." Here is a source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2104053/posts and this is the best: http://theswash.com/liberty/who-fact-checks-factcheck-org. Bypass the profanities of the second one and you'll read where he says that AF was once conservative, but no longer is - and provides his reasons for this conclusion - and not just Bill Ayers. You may disagree with my info, but at least understand that this is a g

RJW (not to be confused with rj) from Oak Park

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 5:49 PM

Ken - Nicely done. I might quibble slightly with a few items on your list, but on the whole it strikes me as rational, compassionate and thoughtful -- words I would use to describe most progressives. Sadly, as is clear from some of the comments here, the anger on the far right makes productive dialogue on these matters extremely difficult. Kudos to Jim Coughlin for giving it the old college try.

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 3:51 PM

Ray, you are confused. The Annenberg Foundation was created by Walter Annenberg who was a close and trusted confidant of President Reagan. The foundation is nonpartisan. If you are able to identify instances where factcheck.org manipulated information or distorted facts; please share. I've never referred to you or other conservatives as "mind numb robots". It's simply not acceptable to resort to name calling in an honest and civil debate. I do recommend that you avail yourself to a variety of available sources for information besides Fox News. MSNBC is not my chief source for opinion and discussion on the issues of the day. I also hestitate to use your choice of the word "war" in describing the reporting and believe that neither of those media outlets consistently offers a fair and balanced view. If we agree to stick to just the facts; we're all better served.

Ray Simpson from Oak Park Facebook Verified

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 3:03 PM

Jim, You keep referring people to factcheck.org as an independent source. That web site is sponsored by the Annenberg group that is a pro liberal, pro Obama pro big government organization that has 8 to 1 liberal democrat to conservative point of view. That said lets stop claiming that those of us who don't share your views are mind numb robots. FOX news ( My choice) does give your side a voice even tho their core is conservative - apply that same test to MSNBC and see who wins the FAIR AND BALANCED war.

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 2:19 PM

Thanks for the best wishes, RJ. Times are tough now but I stay positive. Of course, you should rely on your common sense but be sure to apply a reasoned thought process. That means listening to both sides on an issue and gathering as much information as possible. If all you are doing is parroting the views of Levin, Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter,etc.,; you do your self a disservice. The inane charge that the democratic party "has been hijacked by marxists" has become a mantra of extremists. You really would have to be able to provide factual evidence to convince me that this is not just another example of you resorting to name calling. Any honest and civil debate should not involve the use of incendiary language or false accusation in support of your position.

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 1:02 PM

Jim - Again, my previous and last post still stands. Not name calling - just an observation. Unlike you I have my own positions based on common sense - not guided by Obama. They just don't coincide with yours. Obama and his "useful idiots" are not in my realm. We have two different world views - no common ground. The Democratic party of Kennedy even Clinton - when there was common ground -has been hijacked by Marxists. Have a nice life.

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 11:13 AM

RJ, why resort to name calling? That's a tactic employed by Mark Levin. You do realize that he's a paid entertainer? I've only asked that you fact check before posting comments regarding President Obama's position.

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Monday, February 6th, 2012 10:45 PM

Jim - My previous post stands. The only thing I will add is that you're a drone - tiring and monotonous and incapable of dealing with reality. As Mark Levin asks, "what is this utopian force that both allures a free people and destroys them"?

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Monday, February 6th, 2012 8:58 PM

RJ, I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion but it is way,way off base. My suggestion is that you carefully consider your own positions and then verify the facts as you know them. There is a great deal of misinformation being spread by extremist groups and bloggers. I'm sure you must have been surprised after reading the report at FactCheck.org to learn that you were not accurate in describing Obama's position on the Cybersecurity Act.

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Monday, February 6th, 2012 6:00 PM

Jim - You apparently don't have problems with any and all government over reach and I'm not about to find solace in any of Obama's positions. According to the ACLU -"they're going to blow a hole through all the privacy laws on the books for cyber security purposes-the concern is the govt will be able to create records of peoples' internet use in the name of cyber security". Obviously for any purposes they deem necessary - censorship, limiting free speech - soft tyranny is stealthy.

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Monday, February 6th, 2012 12:53 PM

RJ, if you are interested there's a report available at FactChcek.org regarding the Senate Cybersecurity Act. It fully explains the bill and President Obama's position. You've been misinformed into thinking that Obama is seeking "unrestricted access to all public and private info".

Robert Post Child from Cold Comfort farm

Posted: Monday, February 6th, 2012 12:15 PM

%u2022The first step to improving government is to change our system of legalized bribery, which allows the wealthy to exert disproportionate influence. I guess unions don't assert their wants through hired guns or supporting those politians with similar wants and goals. Grow up you siller whiner. Robert Post Child

Ray Simpson from Oak Park Facebook Verified

Posted: Sunday, February 5th, 2012 9:09 PM

Ken, As I read your list of Progressive objectives I sense that as you list each one you see the failings of government at every turn. Could it be that you are discovering the realities of conservatism? I observed that every point where you involved government you want to limit their power. Your guy in the White House is going to give you a big negative on your report card for conservative beliefs like that.

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 8:29 PM

Jim - Are you talking about the Patriot Act that Obama extended for 4 yrs. w/o reforms in the dead of night on May 26, 2011. Is that the one you're concerned about? Any concern about Obama's proposed copyright laws for the internet giving feds wiretapping authority or the proposed Senate Cybersecurity Act giving Obama power to shut down the internet and ignore privacy laws with unrestricted access to all private and public info?

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 3:35 PM

RJ, I'd hoped you would share specific examples of the "loss of liberties" that you have personally experienced. I thought you might be referring to some of the provisions of the Patriot Act. A worthy topic for discussion along with income equality & health care. The class warfare debate has been ginned up by Fox News but actually has been part of American history for many,many years. Interesting read on the subject in Horward Zinn's book "The People's History of the United States".

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 3:05 PM

Jim - The modern American liberal shares the consistency of thought w/all the failed utopian societies w/elites ruling w/arbitrary bureaucratic control. Today - redistribution of wealth, govmt involvement with private sector, mandated health care, laws that don't apply to govmt elite - under the guise of social justice, "fairness" or whatever sounds fair/class warfare. Tip of the iceberg if allowed to continue. Sad to say the current policies line up with the Communist Manifesto. Freedom? -

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 2:54 PM

Regarding the Iraq war, I believe Kurt Vonnegut was quoted as saying "the only difference between Bush and Hitler was that Hitler was elected."

Dutch Elm

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 1:50 PM

To quote KURT VONNEGUT: "If you want to take my guns away from me, and you're all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you're for the poor, you're a liberal. If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you're a conservative. What could be simpler?"

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 12:32 PM

RJ, you are wrong to place all of the blame for our current economic woes on the folks you tagged. Republican policies and corporate greed certainly made significant contributions. There's plenty of blame to go around but the biggest threat to the republic and our democratic process has been the influence of money. Reading your comment about more government raises the question, "Are you able to identify any "loss of liberties" that you've experienced? Please share and be specific. Thanks.

Jim Bowman from Oak Park

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 12:10 PM

Ken, How about lists of bad progressivism, bad conservatism? Or did you already? I would check a list twice if you did.

rj from Oak Park

Posted: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 12:13 AM

"Progressive" - moving forward, advancing, liberal - they are synonymous. Democrat, liberal, left-wing extremist, progressive - they all apply ad results are the same. More government - loss of liberties - you can't have it both ways. The ideology of liberalism is looking to the past for answers that have never worked in all of history and those who don't agree are labeled as haters and racists. That is not "progressive - that is regressive - certainly not "pragmatic centrists". We're bankrupt!

JKDIV

Posted: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 12:27 PM

If progess equates to a "right" to kill an innocent member of the human species, I want nothing of it. Ken forgets that it was the Supreme Court that went against the public opinion of the time and declared that the right to kill a child fell under a "penumbra" (literally a partial shadow) of Constitutional rights. He worries about the chance that a law abiding citizen might use his 2nd Amendment right to hurt somone, but has no issue with purposely killing an innocent homo sapiens.

Hussite

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 11:07 PM

I applaud and honor all charity givers regardless of political affiliation, but I question whether charity alone can perform functions that only a government can: a military, an education and health system for lower income Americans and a court system, for example.

Bleeding Heart Tightwads

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 10:46 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opinion/21kristof.html

Hussite

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 10:04 PM

For crying out loud. The poor oppressed millionaires! Discriminated outcasts of society! In the rest of the Western World, when unemployment drops towards 10% and the economy fails, rich people practically VOLUNTEER to pay higher taxes, and the rest of their country salutes them for it. And when the crisis passes, the taxes go down, and life goes on. Great power (great cash) = great responsibility. Show some patriotism and some Christian charity, listen to Warren Buffett and play the patricians.

Dutch Elm

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 2:33 PM

Progressivism's fatal weakness: it's innate sense of superiority. Pres. Obama has driven the Progressive movement into a political Stalingrad by not giving Catholic and other objecting religious organizations an conscience based exemption to paying for sterilization services and abortifacient drugs under Obamacare. To place Progressive aims against 1st Amendment rights invites historic political retribution. Repubs will pick this up and run it right into the White House. Thanks!

Joe

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 7:58 AM

"The tax-code should be fair" - I assume this means that everyone pays the same rate, because that is the only way of having a system that is "fair." Or by this, do you mean government bureaucrats get to decide who pays more or less or nothing at all?

realitysux

Posted: Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 2:48 AM

Apparently, progressives don't stand for facts. For the entire universe of American taxpayers, the average tax rate is 11% of AGI. The highest average tax rate paid by anyone earning under $100,000 is 8%. That shows how successful tax cuts to the "middle-class" have been in reducing taxes. By contrast, millionaires pay an average rate of 25%, from $2-$5 million, an average rate of 26%. Combined, they paid 20% of all income taxes in 2009, more than everyone earning under $75,000 combined.

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