Friday, May 13, 2005
Democrats vs. Republicans
As a frequent listener to talk radio, I often hear conservative callers challenge Democrats for being obstructionists. They say that Democrats are merely against Republicans and don't have a positive agenda of their own. Well, I think it's quite clear what Democrats are for. It can be stated fairly simply: Generally, Democrats favor social policies brought about by the New Deal which helped usher in middle-class prosperity and economic opportunities for the broad majority of people in this country for the past 60 years; they tend to support basic civil and human rights that afford people a basic dignity in their lives—such items in this category include rights to an education, assistance in housing, support for medical insurance, bankruptcy protections, and basic rights against a potentially invasive government, like free speech, freedom of/from religion, and protection of privacy; Democrats generally support the rights of workers to organize themselves into unions (unions helped create the basic 40 hour work week, helped workers with pensions and medical insurance, and bargained for safe working conditions); Democrats generally support measures that help insure a long-term healthy environment—clean water and air acts, tax credits for efficiency in energy usage, wanting to do something about global warming. A member of the current administration summed it up nicely: this is a reality-based community (he was being contemptuous of this idea).
As far as I can tell, Republicans support corporate cronyist corruption. They’ve never met a defense contractor they didn’t like. They say they support the military, while at the same time they’re eager to cut veterans' benefits, extend national guard and reserve deployments beyond reasonable time limits, and cut hazard pay. They generally advance a very narrow fundamentalist religious point of view in social issues (“love the fetus, hate the child”; Schiavo case; don’t follow a science-based world view on solving problems; etc.) Representatives of the current administration present a very arrogant, bullying, and unapologetic tone to the world in acknowledging problems (I thought we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq). They kow-tow to petroleum and pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. They’re so vigilantly against any tax increases that they severely hamper the ability of government to carry out basic functions such as education and law enforcement—and they make themselves look incredibly greedy in not wanting to share anything for the common good. If the classic liberal is “tax and spend” then Republicans tend to be “borrow and spend” since their large tax cuts for the rich are creating large budget deficits that will need to be repaid eventually. They support one civil right: the right to own a gun (which is a questionable interpretation of the 2nd constitutional amendment), and they’re unwilling to allow any measures to infringe on this right even if it helps lower crime rates, such as background checks or waiting periods or limiting purchase of semi-automatic weapons (I’m not a hunter myself, but I would guess that an AK-47 would make an ineffective way to hunt deer or elk).
This may sound one-sided, but I’m not even a Democrat! I’m a member of the Green Party because I don’t think the Democrats are aggressive enough in promoting a progressive vision for the country’s future.
As far as I can tell, Republicans support corporate cronyist corruption. They’ve never met a defense contractor they didn’t like. They say they support the military, while at the same time they’re eager to cut veterans' benefits, extend national guard and reserve deployments beyond reasonable time limits, and cut hazard pay. They generally advance a very narrow fundamentalist religious point of view in social issues (“love the fetus, hate the child”; Schiavo case; don’t follow a science-based world view on solving problems; etc.) Representatives of the current administration present a very arrogant, bullying, and unapologetic tone to the world in acknowledging problems (I thought we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq). They kow-tow to petroleum and pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. They’re so vigilantly against any tax increases that they severely hamper the ability of government to carry out basic functions such as education and law enforcement—and they make themselves look incredibly greedy in not wanting to share anything for the common good. If the classic liberal is “tax and spend” then Republicans tend to be “borrow and spend” since their large tax cuts for the rich are creating large budget deficits that will need to be repaid eventually. They support one civil right: the right to own a gun (which is a questionable interpretation of the 2nd constitutional amendment), and they’re unwilling to allow any measures to infringe on this right even if it helps lower crime rates, such as background checks or waiting periods or limiting purchase of semi-automatic weapons (I’m not a hunter myself, but I would guess that an AK-47 would make an ineffective way to hunt deer or elk).
This may sound one-sided, but I’m not even a Democrat! I’m a member of the Green Party because I don’t think the Democrats are aggressive enough in promoting a progressive vision for the country’s future.
