Conclusions about the Founding Fathers

Okay, so everyone wants to claim the Constitution is on their side. Well people also argue about whether or not the founding father's are conservative or liberal. Well...they are neither. Maybe a little mixture of both, but if we want to be realistic, the inferences made seem clear on what they may or may not agree upon on both sides.

For example: 

There are many quotes about not wanting dependence on the government. Basically when conservatives argue that the founding father's didn't want people to rely on the government, they are somewhat correct (also most people don't want that). The founding father's mainly did not want people to depend on a government for economic reasons. My conclusion is the continuation of unemployment pay, extended welfare, etc would not be something that pleased them. However this goes into corporate welfare as well. Tax breaks for these mega corps would not be appreciated either. This leads me into how the Founding Father's would feel about Corporations. Many liberals (not Democrats) would agree with this part. Let me make it clear: Republicans and Democrats are not THAT different, so I am talking conservative and liberal, which have clearer differences.

On Corporations: There are many clues that our founding father's would not be keen on mega corp tax breaks, buying power, or Capitalism (as it currently is) for that matter. They would also not be pleased about the Banks having so much power. 

When The Founding Father's talked about limited government, they meant it. This means no conservative favoritism to business over people, no Patriot Act, no welfare state (individuals or companies), etc. 

Here are some quotes that should answer these conclusions. However, keep in mind, our Founding Father's were flawed too. Many of them had slaves, they lived so long ago, that the America today wouldn't be recognizable, so it is hard to say how they would feel about everything, but things I mentioned are things they specifically referred to, which is why we can make inferences about them.

1. Handouts? Thomas Jefferson said a country shouldn't lean on its government for support, only for the overall good. Ben Franklin said that poverty shouldn't be easy and should be used to motivate someone NOT to be in poverty. However, companies should not be the cause of poverty and they had plenty to say about government not allowing institutions to have too much money or power. I wonder how they would look at our country now in general?

2. Banking

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a
money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance."
--Thomas Jefferson, at the Constitutional Convention (1787)

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in the Constitution or Confederation, not from
a want of honor or virtue so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."
--John Adams, at the Constitutional Convention (1787)


"The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution. I am
an enemy to all banks, discounting bills or notes for anything but coin. If the American people allow private banks to control the
issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will
deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
--Thomas Jefferson
 

3. Corporations and power

http://trueslant.com/rickungar/2010/01/22/what-did-the-founding-fathers-really-think-about-corporations-and-their-rights/

4. Limited Government

James Madison in The Federalist No. 51, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary.   If angels [ran the] government, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."

The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers."
-- Thomas Jefferson 

 

5. Taxes?

I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
- Thomas Jefferson