Centrism is not the enemy of Progressivism

Which President formed the Department of Energy and Department of Education and put solar panels on the White House Roof? Jimmy Carter, a Centrist

Which President signed Family Leave, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and GOALS 2000 for Education? Bill Clinton, a centrist

Which President funded more environmental jobs projects, signed Race to the Top, created the Consumer Finance Bureau and signed the Affordable Care Act. Barrack Obama, a centrist.

What is the message here? Despite the theme of the below article from The Nation, Centrism is not the enemy of Progressivism. In fact, centrists have historically sponsored progressive measures to move the country forward. What centrist is not for increasing the minimum wage? What centrist is not for clean air and water? What centrist is not for college tuition assistance? What centrist is not for middle and lower class tax relief? What centrist is not for universal health care? Now there are differences on how far centrists are willing to go compared to more devout liberals. Here is a news flash. The country is more in the center in mood than extreme right and extreme left. Go back further in history and you may find that Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson policies were more centrist than appreciated. Roosevelt passed Social Security but did not have Universal Health Care Legislation. President Truman desegrated the armed forces but thought Minnesota Mayor Hubert Humphrey's speech against segregation at the 1948 convention would potentially cost him the election. President Kennedy did pass the Peace Corp but his domestic priorities in Congress stalled and it was his successor Lyndon Johnson that passed his program that included tax cuts and programs like Civil Rights, aid to education, and Medicare-Medicaid. However, Johnson did not get all his programs through and it was actually Richard Nixon with a Democratic Congress that put the finishing touches on the Great Society with Pell Grants and the Environmental Protection Agency.

As stated above, centrism is not the enemy of progressivism. As a matter of fact, progressive programs can not be enacted without it.



https://www.thenation.com/article/the-democratic-party-must-change/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow