Michael Collins

"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it." William Jennings Bryan, 1896

Populism is broadly defined as "political ideas and activities that are intended to represent ordinary people's needs and wishes." The majority are deliberately held down by the financial elite. Removal of the financial elite is the vehicle to realize the "people's needs and wishes." (Graph)

The statement from William Jennings Bryan is pure populism. It becomes less pure as he proceeded with his speech. He used a metaphor of burning down the nation's big cities since they were, he claimed, the stronghold of the financial elite and support for the gold standard for currency.

In practice, populism almost always entails anger and resentment.

A combination of factors has the United States ripe for populist sentiments. The financial collapse which surfaced fully at the end of the Bush administration resulted in help to both the major financial firms and the people. The financial firms got $14 trillion dollars worth of bailouts. The people got $1.8 trillion in President Obama's stimulus package, much of which consisted of tax cuts for political favorites.

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Excerpt, minor editing for Today’s Insight News by Carolyn Bennett

None shall make or enforce law abridging privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United States.
None shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law.
None shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.

Another administration breaches the Constitution of the United States and international laws. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich calls the Executive Branch to "justify" State acts of murder.

Writing last week to the U.S. Attorney General, Kucinich wrote, "Due process of law is a fundamental principle in our Constitutional structure.

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