Summary: History of the Republican party based on the 2000 election, which includes their handling of 9/11
Timestamp 5:23: Conservative party was formed in the 1950’s, and Bill Clinton displeased the movement conservatives.They referred to themselves as “Rino’s” (Republicans in Name Only). Their ideology is not in alignment with traditional republicans, and Movement conservatives are not open to negotiation.
Timestamp 11:24: Clinton has raised taxes, which created a surplus for the first time since Eisenhower.
Timestamp 14:57: Election of 2000 entailed the republican party finding its identity. Main candidates are John McCain and George W Bush. Both are movement conservatives, and aim for different constituencies.
Timestamp 18:05: To win the key state of South Carolina, Lee Atwater who is working with Bush, called voters for a “poll” on what they would feel if John McCain fathered an African American child out of wedlock. People believed the implication, which caused them to lose the state and therefore the nomination.
Timestamp 19:00: After winning the nomination, George W Bush reinvented himself with the cowboy imagery coveted by the Movement conservatives, to the extent that his followers believed he was a native Texan. During this time, he promised he would not raise taxes and proposed privatization of social security. The Privatization would bring potential for large profits for money managers.
Timestamp 21:40: Al Gore was his running mate in the election, and was viewed as too technical and not “human”. He was seen as catering to minorities and special interests, regardless of his intelligence. Al Gore won the popular vote, but was 4 votes short in the electoral college.
Timestamp 24:30: Due to the mayoral vote in Miami, Republicans in the state of Florida ran with the idea of voter fraud. This causes Florida to pass a voter ID law, which removed 200,000 people from voting, which are predominantly African Americans. This turns the election in Bush’s favor, especially with the butterfly ballot layout and hanging chads. This election is being overseen by his brother, Governor Jeb Bush.
Timestamp 27:58: Up to 10,000 votes went to Pat Buchanan due to the layout of the butterfly ballot, and many people were unable to vote due to voting machine malfunctions. During this time, Gore requested a manual recount, which prompted the Brooks Brothers Riot since they felt they were trying to steal the Presidency. The recount was upheld by the supreme court. By manipulating the media and taking advantage of voter suppression, Bush won the presidency. This led to a rise in Gerrymandering and manipulation of policy to allow them to win the election without the popular vote.
Timestamp 35:56: Once elected, Bush prohibits discussion of family planning programs for facilities that receive federal funding, and also establishes white house office of faith based and community initiatives , which allows faith based organizations to receive funding. They also Overturn a lot of Clinton initiatives to be in alignment with the Movement conservative agenda. During this time, industry is in control of the government.
Timestamp 41:00: Haliburtin is contracted to do work for the government. They discuss the energy needs with Movement conservative based organizations, specifically with Religious based ones. They cut taxes, which resulted in the surplus from Clinton to disappear, so when Democrats asked for funding for social safety net programs they could counter with no budget.
Time stamp 44:08: While on vacation, Bush receives briefing advising of Bin Ladens attempt to attack America in America. Days later, 9/11 occurs. This results in his popularity soar by focusing on the country’s free enterprise and faith, which is the Movement Conservative platform. A direct result of this is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseen by Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, and is staffed with politically aligned with the President. This department was created by the consolidation of multiple other departments, and is controlled by the Executive Branch.
Time Stamp 51:00: After 9/11 they turn to business to run the country’s vital Operations. The focuses are on Ethanol, Airlines, and cable companies so they can focus on their stock prices. The Tax cuts referenced previously were given to large companies. When Cities asked for funding, they were denied funding but directed to the Department of Homeland Security, as cities no longer directly received funding and had to go through federal.
Timestamp 58:24:The lack of basic policy knowledge amongst senior staff was not contested amongst staff and reinforced by Press meetings. Things were simplified for the public. More tax cuts were called for, and they were told it would call a fiscal crisis. The result was a recession caused by ruling by ideology vs fact.
[From wikipedia] Richardson’s first book, The Greatest Nation of the Earth (1997), stemmed from her dissertation at Harvard University. Inspired by Eric Foner’s work on pre-Civil War Republican ideology, Richardson analyzed Republican economic policies during the war. She contended that their efforts to create an activist Federal Government during the Civil War marked a continuation of Republican free labor ideology. These policies, such as war bonds and greenbacks or the Land Grant College Act and the Homestead Act, revolutionized the role of the Federal Government in the U.S. economy. At the same time, these actions laid the groundwork for the Republican Party’s shift to Big Business after the Civil War.
In this 2001 book, Richardson "focused on the “Northern abandonment of Reconstruction.” Building on the earlier work of C. Vann Woodward, she argued that a more complete understanding of the period required appreciation of class, not only race. As Reconstruction continued into the 1870s and especially the 1880s, Republicans began to view African Americans in the South more from a class perspective and less from the perspective of race that had driven their earlier humanitarianism. In the midst of the labor struggles of the Gilded Age, Republicans came to compare “the demands of the ex-slaves for land, social services, and civil rights” to the demands of white laborers in the North. This ideological shift was the key to Republican abandonment of Reconstruction, as they chose the protection of their economic and business interests over their desire for racial equality." [From wikipedia]
In this 2007 book, "Richardson presented Reconstruction as a national event that impacted all Americans, not just those in the South. She incorporated the West into the discussion of Reconstruction as no predecessor had. Between 1865 and 1900, Americans re-imagined the role of the federal government, calling upon it to promote the well-being of its citizens. However, racism, sexism, and greed divided Americans, and the same people who increasingly benefited from government intervention—white, middle-class Americans—actively excluded African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and organized laborers from the newfound bounties of their reconstructed nation." [from wikipedia]
In this book, published in 2010, Richardson "focused on the U.S. Army’s slaughter of Native Americans in South Dakota in 1890. She argued that party politics and opportunism led to Wounded Knee. After a bruising midterm election, President Benjamin Harrison needed to shore up his support. To do so, he turned to The Dakotas, where he replaced seasoned Indian agents with unqualified political allies, who incorrectly assumed that the Ghost Dance Movement presaged war. The Army responded by sending one third of its force in order to avoid spending cuts from Congress. After the event, Republicans tried to paint the massacre as a heroic battle to stifle the resurgent Democrats." [wikipedia]
In this 2014 book, Richardson "extended her study of the Republican Party into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book studied the entire life of the GOP, from its inception in the 1850s through the presidency of George W. Bush. The party’s founders united against the “slave power,” a small group of wealthy white men who controlled all three branches of government. These Republicans articulated a new vision of an America in which all hardworking men could rise. But after the Civil War, Republicans began to emulate what they originally opposed. They tied themselves to powerful bankers and industrialists, sacrificing the well-being of ordinary Americans. A similar process took place after World War II, when Republicans sought to dismantle successful New Deal policies and prop up the wealthy. However, in both cases, reformers within the party were able to return the GOP to its founding vision of equality of opportunity, first Theodore Roosevelt during the Progressive Era, and then Dwight D. Eisenhower, who enforced integration and maintained the New Deal. The Nixon and Reagan administrations have represented yet another fall from the GOP’s founding purpose. It's ironic, Richardson points out, that Republicans treated Barack Obama with an unprecedented level of disrespect, as Obama's rise from humble beginnings to the highest office in the nation embodied the vision of the original Republicans." [wikipedia]
In her most recent publication, Richardson argues "that America was founded with contradicting ideals, with the ideas of liberty, equality, and opportunity on one hand, and slavery and hierarchy on the other. United States victory in the American Civil War should have settled that tension forever, but at the same time that the Civil War was fought, Americans also started moving into the West. In the West, Americans found and expanded upon deep racial hierarchies, meaning that hierarchical values survived in American politics and culture despite the crushing defeat of the pro-slavery Confederacy. Those traditions--a rejection of democracy, an embrace of entrenched wealth, the marginalization of women and people of color--have found a home in modern conservative politics, leaving the tremendous promise of America unfulfilled." [wikipedia]
