It is time for Americans to understand a key political distinction between "progressives" as they relate to both Democrats and Republicans. Progressives are individuals from both parties who commonly believe in social improvement through government action. Traditionally, progressives are thought to be liberal or Democrat in nature. This is not accurate. The first progressives were actually a splinter group from the Republican Party in 1912. Today, it can be argued that most of our legislators are progressive Democrats and progressive Republicans, evidenced by the exhaustive amount of legislation from both sides of the aisle that perpetuates government's ever-growing involvement in American lives.

The notion that a progressive agenda is strictly that of liberals, Democrats, or socialists is a misconception in desperate need of correction. The past century has shown us that any salient differences between the two parties have only narrowed with each new administration and/or legislature.

The two major contenders for the 2008 election are experience (McCain) versus inexperience (Obama). Obama's inexperience is disturbing in that he appears to have disregarded the elected seats he occupied to continue climbing the political ladder. Once elected, he effected little, if any, change. Obama's political career is one of meteoric trajectory from an obscure Illinois legislator to a short-lived U.S. Senator (only two years into his six-year term before he hit the presidential campaign trail) to the Democratic nominee for president with a very good chance of winning the highest office in the land - all with nothing backing his eligibility except good communication skills and nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Make no mistake, the $700-billion request from the Bush administration including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, is very much a bailout of Wall Street first and foremost. The tactics used here are familiar ones. Create shock and fear, and amplify it by fast-tracking legislative action. Create a profound sense of urgency, coupled with vague but absolute solutions with no time for verification or alternatives. Threaten the core security of every citizen to justify, and obtain approval for, the transfer of power being sought. In this case, the request is an unprecedented transfer of power to the U.S. treasurer's office, with virtually no oversight, regulatory control, or checks and balances of any kind.

The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. On August 2, 1956, in commemoration of this revolutionary document, Congress set aside the week of September 17 to 23 as Constitution Week, with September 17 designated as Citizenship Day.