What do you think were the most major events in American political history?

[themuzicman]

I can't remember the case, but it's the one where the SCOTUS staked a claim to being able to rule on whether a law was "constitutional."

The 14th amendment (probably the biggest shift in federal power to date)

The 16th amendment (possibly the 2nd biggest)


I would say the continuance of slave trade after the establishment of the constitution, but that was more the founders failing to engage this issue to keep the union together. To me, that sowed the seeds of discrimination and hatred against blacks which came out during the civil war when the south entrenched itself in a dying practice, and went to war because Lincoln said that all new territories would be free and not slave based.

A large turning point (although not a good one) was FDR's "New Deal", where literally millions became dependent upon the federal government. Same goes for the "War on Poverty." Created a huge entitlement mentality, and made a way for politicians to buy votes.

The CRA was probably an important element, although what followed was a mixed bag. The country needs to start crediting republicans with passing that legislation, as it was southern DEMOCRATS who opposed it.


And I think a major negative turning point in US politics was in 2000, when Al Gore refused to accept the state of Florida's declaration that he had lost, and we went into weeks and weeks of recounts and legal challenges and such. One thing I do respect John Kerry for was his refusal to follow suit in 2004 with the state of Ohio. Hopefully that's one ledge presidential candidates stay away from in the future.

Michael

[Jimmy Higgins]

I can't remember the case, but it's the one where the SCOTUS staked a claim to being able to rule on whether a law was "constitutional."

Yeah... that'd be Marbury v Madison as I noted previously.

The 14th amendment (probably the biggest shift in federal power to date)

I'd beg to differ. It was not about shifting power from the states to the federal government. It was about extending federally granted rights in the Constitution to the people.

The CRA was probably an important element, although what followed was a mixed bag. The country needs to start crediting republicans with passing that legislation, as it was southern DEMOCRATS who opposed it.

Yeah... which was why they decided to leave the party and join the Republicans.

And I think a major negative turning point in US politics was in 2000, when Al Gore refused to accept the state of Florida's declaration that he had lost, and we went into weeks and weeks of recounts and legal challenges and such. One thing I do respect John Kerry for was his refusal to follow suit in 2004 with the state of Ohio. Hopefully that's one ledge presidential candidates stay away from in the future.

Al Gore didn't seek the US Supreme Court to intervene... nor did he start the first court case... that was Bush. Also comparing Ohio with Florida is a bit dull, seeing the winning margin in Florida was in the thousandth of a percent. Bush took Ohio by a substantially larger amount than that. Oddly enough, in 2000, the Republicans asked for a recount in New Mexico. I don't believe the Democrats made a big deal about it.

The big bad in 2000 was Katherine Harris who did everything she could to keep recounts from happening. 2000 Timeline

[themuzicman]

Yeah... that'd be Marbury v Madison as I noted previously.

Thank you. I wasn't sure.

I'd beg to differ. It was not about shifting power from the states to the federal government. It was about extending federally granted rights in the Constitution to the people.

And inserting the federal government into state's legislative business.

Yeah... which was why they decided to leave the party and join the Republicans.

They left to join the party that opposed them in Civil rights.. yeeeaah...

Al Gore didn't seek the US Supreme Court to intervene... nor did he start the first court case... that was Bush.

The point was that Gore was demanding what he didn't have a right to ask for.

Also comparing Ohio with Florida is a bit dull, seeing the winning margin in Florida was in the thousandth of a percent. Bush took Ohio by a substantially larger amount than that. Oddly enough, in 2000, the Republicans asked for a recount in New Mexico. I don't believe the Democrats made a big deal about it.

The point is that Al Gore made a huge national issue out of Florida, which was a major embarrassment for the electoral process. Certainly Bush's response wasn't perfect, but he wasn't driving the madness.

And I think the point about Kerry was that he refused to demand one in spite of what the rest of his party were pushing him to do. I don't think we want every presidential election to descend into what Florida was in 2000. We're not a 3rd world nation.

The big bad in 2000 was Katherine Harris who did everything she could to keep recounts from happening.

I think Kathrine Harris, like many in the state process, knew that going through this would be a very painful and potentially damaging process for both the state of Florida and the future of US elections in general.

The legislature of Florida gave her the power to make the decisions that she did, and that power came from the US constitution which empowers the states' legislature to select its electors. It took the SCOTUS to finally affirm this.

Michael

[Jimmy Higgins]

And inserting the federal government into state's legislative business.

That regarded the rights of all Americans. It was about expanding rights into the States.

They left to join the party that opposed them in Civil rights.. yeeeaah...

Yeah... they did.
Here is a little article.

Some southerners remained Republican: Residents of mountain counties in Virginia, western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northwestern Arkansas had joined the party during the Civil War as an act of contempt for the Democratic elites that favored secession. They provided most of the leaders of the southern GOP into the 1960s. In addition, until the 1930s most southern blacks were Republican, and many continued to be until the 1960s.
Traditional Republicans in the South weren't so much conservative as establishmentarian: They were deal-makers and logrollers. The party was transformed, and moved rightward, during the 1960s and 1970s as southern Democrats fed up with the radicalization of their party began to desert.

The point was that Gore was demanding what he didn't have a right to ask for.

If you read the timeline, you'll notice that Harris becomes over involved even before Gore asks for a recount... which he was entitled to ask for.

The point is that Al Gore made a huge national issue out of Florida, which was a major embarrassment for the electoral process. Certainly Bush's response wasn't perfect, but he wasn't driving the madness.

Harris and the GOP were driving the madness. They attempted to stop recounts by trying to overly enforce deadlines instead of giving the counties time to get the job finished... like an extra day. It would be a little bit before Gore would make with the proposition to have a recount for the entire state, a reasonable idea seeing how absurdly close the outcome was.

And I think the point about Kerry was that he refused to demand one in spite of what the rest of his party were pushing him to do. I don't think we want every presidential election to descend into what Florida was in 2000. We're not a 3rd world nation.

Bush had well under a 0.01% lead in Florida. I believe he won by over half a percent in Ohio. There was pressure for Kerry to do a recount, but the lead was insurmountable. It made no sense to recount. Florida was not Ohio.

I think Kathrine Harris, like many in the state process, knew that going through this would be a very painful and potentially damaging process for both the state of Florida and the future of US elections in general.

The legislature of Florida gave her the power to make the decisions that she did, and that power came from the US constitution which empowers the states' legislature to select its electors. It took the SCOTUS to finally affirm this.

Actually, all the SCOTUS did was reaffirm the December 18th deadline... which actually went against prescedent set back in 1960 with Hawaii actually changing it's delegates after a recount affirmed a different winner.

[Sheepdog]

I disagree... the great depression was created by our monetary policies at the time. They had increased the monetary supply too much, and then overcorrected by cutting the monetary supply to 1/3 of what it had been previous to the great depression. That there is the biggest factor behind our great depression, IMO.

that's what started the great depression, though it can be argued that the economy would have recovered had FDR not made it worse. and government intervention, as i use the term, covers the monetary policy... so, i don't think we disagree after all. i was not suggesting that the New Deal itself caused the Depression in the first place.

[Sheepdog]

The New Deal introduced more government intervention. I personally like how people love to second guess those decisions... based on knowledge of economics we've obtained over the 70 years after... that they didn't have!!!

What economic model do you suppose that Keynesian economics replaced?

[burgy]

The next major event in history will come when the Shrub leaves office and we can all begin to breathe again.

The current crop of candidates has one or two decent replacements. Richardson or Edwards for the Dems; McCain for the Reps

[Paintbucket]

If I had to pick the #1, I'd say that it would be the resolution of the Civil War. America would draw together to form a superpower in just a few years.