Obama’s Osawatomie offensive – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

“The true friend of property, the true conservative,” he declared, “is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made it. The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have called into being.”

Obama’s Osawatomie offensive – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

That’s Teddy Roosevelt, a progressive who could not win any Republican vote today. Re-read that quote, substituting “corporations” for “property.” In fact, he was quite explicit about the threat corporation pose:

Obama’s Osawatomie offensive – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

TR, it’s fair to say, would be appalled by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which opened the way for corporations to spend vast sums in the political arena. In 1910, he declared: There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short nor an easy task, but it can be done.

Obama’s Osawatomie offensive – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

I recommend you read the whole column by e.j. dionne.