Richard Ivory

Once upon a time ago there existed a powerful group of Republicans called “The Progressive Republicans” who advocated for change and reform in this nation. Since its heyday the group has all but died mostly though it’s been in a deep slumber. But thanks to social networking and blogs one must seriously ask is the rise of the Progressive Republican back?

If so the person leading this band of brothers is Travis Johnson a former Virginia Republican activists who is so upset with the party’s direction that he has started a movement online called The Progressive Republicans. At first glance it looks as if the group is a small band of optimistic believers with very little direction who found each other online. But if there’s any doubt to their hopes of bringing back simply check out their Facebook Page with close to 300 active members ready to make a stand.

This blog contacted and spoke with Travis Johnson asking him him to define what exactly was a Progressive Republican was given the lefts use of the term. Travis explained that his movement wants to take back the term and to make a stand for social justice in the Republican Party. According to Mr.Johnson Travis the new group’s interest will be social justice, civil rights and a clean environment as well as a small government and strong national defense.

According to the website the Progressive Republicans historically were instrumental in transforming the federal government into a powerful agent for economic stability and equality, fair labor practices, management of natural resources, consumer protection, and “good [honest, efficient, democratic] government.” None of these objectives were perfectly achieved, of course.

Women played an important role in the progressive movement, focusing on social issues like child labor, education, nutrition, health care, and alcoholism; finally in 1920 they won the right to vote in federal elections. However, blacks and other minorities were largely excluded from the table of progressivism. And aside from railroad regulation, not much of the progressives’ agenda addressed the frustrations of farmers.

But before judging the progressives too harshly, we should remember how bad social conditions were in the late nineteenth century, and the odds against which the reformers fought in their vigorous efforts to mitigate the harshness of industrial-urban life.

So are we witnessing the rise of the Progressive Republicans or is it just hype?

The Progressive Republican’s New Website
http://www.progressiverepublican.info

Their Beliefs

Smarter Government - We believe the core mission of the Republican Party for now and ever more should be reducing the size and cost of the government. We should be at the forefront of efforts to leverage technology to reduce the human and financial resources necessary to manage our government. We want to objectively measure the effectiveness of all government programs and wipe out those who do not meet the needs of the American people and direct resources to those that do.

Personal Responsibility – Progressive Republicans take seriously the inalienable rights described in the Declaration of Independence as “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” We take seriously the idea that these rights apply to all adult Americans and that every American who exercises these rights is responsible for any resultant consequences. We oppose any legislation which interferes with the exercise of these rights in any fashion which does not negatively impact national security or prevent others from exercising the same rights.

Sustainable Environment - Progressive Republicans, like our predecessor President Theodore Roosevelt, believe it is up to each of us to preserve our precious natural resources. We encourage policies which encourage and facilitate efforts by our nation’s businesses to act in a more environmentally safe manner. We also encourage investment by the government and by private donors into alternate renewable sources of energy such as nuclear, wind and solar. We also find it important to make use of existing sources of fuel by safely drilling/mining anywhere oil or coal or national gas can be found.

“Community Values” - We believe the best of America can be found in its small towns, big cities and communities of every size in between. We want to take a page from organizations like he Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and aggressively provide assistance to community-level organizations with a proven history of results without regard for faith or ethnicity. We believe it’s important to encourage community relationships on every level and will work to encourage them, but recognize that it is not the role of government to create them. That job should be left to individuals within the communities themselves.

Immigration Policy – We understand that immigration has always been the lifeblood of the United States. That’s why Progressive Republicans want to make the legal immigration process as easy and humane as possible. We want to offer English language classes to all immigrants so that we may help them integrate with mainstream American society.

International Affairs – We believe that it’s important for America (and Americans) to be engaged openly with the rest of the world and that we should be actively championing the cause of human rights and democracy all around the globe. We believe, however, that we should do it humbly, without bravado, and only with force of arms when lives are immediately at stake.