I would like to start first by explaining why I chose to use the term Liberal and not Democrat to define my ideology.

In our two party systems’ history both have supported Liberal principles.

It was dominant in the Republican Party during the age of Lincoln when they proclaimed that government is there to “do for people that which they cannot do for themselves” (quite the Democratic sentiment today).

This was at the same time that the Democrats boasted “States Rights” and Laissez Faire economics (which would be considered Republican sentiments today). Until Woodrow Wilson and FDR created the idealistic Democratic Party that you see today, Democrats were actually the conservatives.

So for all intents and purposes I will be using the term Liberal instead of the common party name Democrat.

Liberals have been the leading voice in the pursuit of a more just and democratic society. Too often we shrug from our history because of lies that are believed out fear. Too often this fear persuades the populace to conserve the way of yesterday than create a better tomorrow. But we have nothing to be ashamed about.

To see Democrats in Congress who voted for the health care bill be so ashamed that they publicly denounce the bill for political gain would be funny if it was not so sad.

To see Joe Manchin go out of his way to criticize the Obama Administration when conservatives call him a “rubber stamp,” greatly concerns me. Where are the Congressmen and women who are willing to stand for what is right even when the politics of the moment tell them it is wrong?

Let us not forget that it was Laissez Faire ideology that led us into the Great Depression while it was Liberals that fought our way out with the New Deal for America.

It was Liberals who created the “Great Society” that shrunk the poverty level from 21% to under 10% in four years and led to the most prosperous years in American history making us the envy of the world.

We began poverty programs for struggling families, provided the elderly with medical care, created the Peace Corps, wrote the Civil rights Act, implemented the women’s suffrage amendment, minimum wage and the Voting Rights Act.

Why should we shrink from these accomplishments?

Too often we allow temporary poll success give way to years of bad policy, but we must not forget the wound that caused this infection.

Since the ‘80s we have followed a path of deregulating New Deal era institutions and increasing corporate welfare, while giving too much power to too few people. These policies led to and encouraged risky trading and faulty home loans that gave birth to the current credit crisis.

It was the $800 billion tax cut for millionaires that suffocated our middle class and gave us a susceptible, top heavy economy while turning a record surplus into a record deficit.

It is the same people who voted against Medicare that defy any reformation to ease our incredible debt.

However, it was the Stimulus plan that “didn’t work” that changed the course of a monthly shrinking economy of -6% to a growing economy of around +3%. I realize that job growth has been stagnant and seemingly non-existent, but it takes longer than one year to erase decades of foul play.

I’m a liberal because I believe not in a bigger government but a better government for the American people. I believe that government can be a force for good, not evil.

I believe that government by the people, for the people means exactly that, for the benefit of the people. I believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of America and the importance of the American dream, but there must a medium where the welfare of the people is joined with corporate profit.

I’m a Liberal because I believe every person has extraordinary potential, but too often they are never able to realize that potential. And that the government can help, not by telling them how to live but to lend a hand in making their dreams possible.

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” these are the times that define our future and create the America that fulfills everyone’s dream, not just a privileged few.

Let us stand for that America; not shy away for political gain but push forward for a greater tomorrow.

Tony Burge, Jr.

Pedro