The Huge Difference Between Democrats and Republicans

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When it comes to personal liberty Republicans believe in big government. As former Republican Senator and Presidential candidate Rick Santorum observed, “The idea is that the state doesn’t have rights to limit individuals’ wants and passions. I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire.” Even if their wants or passions do not harm others. This legislative session Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota (all Democrat controlled) joined 9 other states and the District of Columbia in extending the freedom to marry to include those of the same sex. Meanwhile, of the 25 states with constitutional prohibitions on same sex marriage, 22 are controlled by Republicans. None are controlled by Democrats.

Of the 17 states that have enacted medical marijuana laws, 10 are Democratic and only two are Republican. (The rest are not controlled by a single party.) As if to put an exclamation point on this difference, the same day last November that voters in Democrat controlled Washington and Colorado approved the legalization of marijuana, voters in Republican controlled Arkansas handily defeated a proposal to allow the drug to be used for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s prescription.

Gun control is an issue that for Republicans and Democrats affects both liberty and security. For Republicans the ability to own unlimited numbers of guns and carry them whenever and wherever one wants with a minimum of government oversight, constitutes an essential part of freedom while allowing the owner to protect herself from physical harm. For Democrats widespread gun ownership significantly contributes to physical violence inside and outside the gun owner’s household; thus in this case unrestrained liberty must give way to regulation.
In this legislative session while Democratic states like New York and Connecticut and Maryland tightened gun laws, more than a dozen GOP states scaled back their already minimal gun laws. Political statistician Nate Silver insists, “Whether someone owns a gun is a more powerful predictor of a person’s political party than her gender, whether she identifies as gay or lesbian, whether she is Hispanic (or) whether she lives in the south…”
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Recently Democrat controlled Colorado, Delaware and Maryland have enacted laws making it easier for people to register and vote while Republican controlled or dominant Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia have made it harder. Nine of ten states that have voter photo ID laws are Republican dominated. - See more at: http://onthecommons.org/magazine/huge-difference-between-republicans-and-democrats#sthash.aImspIgo.dpuf

http://onthecommons.org/magazine/huge-difference-between-republicans-and-democrats

[calimary]

1. The right to choose and the right to vote.

The Democrats are into those things. The republi-CONS not so much. Every time somebody blathers to me the moldy old standby - "meh, both parties alike. They're all the same, blah-blah-blah," that's my response. And I can certainly go on down the list from there, but both of those are at the TOP. Even if the difference is no more than that, that's enough for me.

[arely staircase]

13. those are my top two as well

and everything flows from the right to vote. I really posted this to be independent of anyone's opinion of the president (who I do support) but to show the difference between the parties in a meta way because it shows what happens in Democratically run states v Republican ones. And if one thinks the Dems are too conservative on a national level (as I do) the trick is to elect Democratic state legislators to draw the Congressional lines fairly.

[liberal_at_heart]

20. not good enough for me, and I don't hear too many Congressmen pitching a fit about the voting rights

right now either.

[Jamaal510]

25. You'd think that with Republicans

always throwing the "freedom" word around, they would at least believe in the right of everybody to vote. But...I guess that's just yet another empty slogan from them.

[TheKentuckian]

26. TeaPubliKlans don't want people to be able to vote because it hurts their chances to win

Democrats support voting rights because they need those numbers to win and that is that, altruism is no longer an appreciable factor. Our party doesn't care about people power or self determination, they don't give a shit about representation. We just aren't going to win if the the only voters are white males and if TeaPubliKlans thought DC would be reliably their's the district would be a state right now.

That leaves us with access to choice for those who can afford it because it gets really dicey if the support is their for those with no resources.

The differences are real, none the less but "enough" is far from true because you are declaring that the voting largely could bring the exact same results and that is fine as long as everyone gets to go through the motion of the activity and women with enough money can choose to carry a baby to term or not and my mileage varies on that big time, our needs and self determination require more than that.

What the fuck does anyone care if they can vote if it is just reduced to deciding which person will execute the exact same agenda? All kinds of folks have had the ability to vote but their votes were little more than ceremonial gestures, modern dictatorships and authoritarian states have little aversion to elections, they don't decide anything of fundamental consequence. They pick sometimes nothing (ballots with no choices at all), sometimes they pick a face that will almost do the exact same thing as the other options, sometime they might have full run of the electoral process but little or no power is actually vested where the voting happens, sometimes the power centers are never up for election, sometimes who counts the votes matters most.

There are too damn many ways to make sure elections don't have steering power in a society and I just don't see how someone can in the same sentence make something single issue fundamental and logically dictate the purpose of the established fundamental be negated in real world application.

Voting is meaningless if the action doesn't impact anything and abortion rights can only mean so much if that is the only form of self determination and access to natural rights one can expect or even aspire to.
I don't apologize for needing a more comprehensive vision or for accounting for the other 99.9+ percent of our lives at a greater weight.

Folks didn't give blood sweat, and many bitter tears for being allowed to go through the motions of voting. They faced firehoses, dogs, beating, imprisonment, and death to be able to add their influence because their votes would matter and so participate in self governance rather than to be ruled.

[UTUSN]

2. R&K for whatever, coming from you I'm THERE11 n/t

[Fumesucker]

3. And yet both parties think it's their business what I grow in my garden

To the point their minions hover helicopters over the neighborhood looking at every yard for the deadly and vile illegal herb.

[arely staircase]

4. and yet

Of the 17 states that have enacted medical marijuana laws, 10 are Democratic and only two are Republican. (The rest are not controlled by a single party.) As if to put an exclamation point on this difference, the same day last November that voters in Democrat controlled Washington and Colorado approved the legalization of marijuana, voters in Republican controlled Arkansas handily defeated a proposal to allow the drug to be used for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s prescription.

[Fumesucker]

5. Obama disagrees with you

He thinks hunting herbs with helicopters is a good use of taxpayer resources.

Indeed, it's clearly Obama's opinion that if he had been busted as a teen and young adult for his own drug use it would have improved his life.

Imagine how far Obama could have gone in life if he had gotten treatment for his drug problem.

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6. I wish the administration would halt all raids on dispensaries

but the point is which party is better overall on the issue and clearly it is the Democratic Party. And if a Repub. gets in next time, watch what happens in terms of those raids. It won't be a good thing.

[Fumesucker]

8. Only Nixon could go to China

If the Republicans snatch drug legalization from the Democrats at the national level it would go a long way to neutralizing Democratic advantages among the young at least.

You assume that Republicans have fixed morality, not even close, they are the ultimate hypocrites and will happily do a 180 on a dime and give nine cents change.

[arely staircase]

9. they would lose their Christian fundamentalist base, never happen nt

[Fumesucker]

10. Not as many as you might think

I know a bunch of fundie ex druggies and some still druggies. Hell I know one toking pill popping momma that was all worked up to go support Chik Fil A back last year or so when that was a big issue, they ate that crap for weeks.

This phenomenon is so old there's hoary jokes about it.

Q: How do you keep a Baptist from drinking all the beer on a fishing trip?

A: Take two Baptists.

[arely staircase]

11. LOL yeah I was raised Baptist and then I reached the age reason

That is has always been one of my favorite Baptist jokes. Because the Baptist rule is they don't drink in front of one another.. The most insufferable people on facebook for me are old high school acquaintances who spent years on meth, then found God and want to tell me I'm going to hell.

[liberal_at_heart]

18. I know some hard core Christians that either smoke marijuana or approve of it, and many of them do

support the medical use of it even if they don't approve of the recreational use of it.

[DevonRex]

7. K&R. Yes, there's a huge difference between the parties. Don't let anybody

tell you different.

[sheshe2]

12. You are correct, AS.

The difference is Humanity.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. The difference is on the State level, the Feds are the same no matter

This article goes on about medical marijuana even as Obama and Holder attack dispensaries in those Democratic States. It is what it is.

[SunSeeker]

15. Anybody who says there's no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties...

Is either an idiot or a liar.

[liberal_at_heart]

16. the people are making the marijuana laws happen, not the politicians.

Another example of why voters putting pressure on politicians is a good thing. The people will not be ignored on the marijuana issue. The state legislatures know this. That is why they agree to enact the initiatives the voters put on the ballot and approve. Now, it's time to put pressure on the federal government to change their policies on marijuana. I am proud to be in WA and proud to see the people refusing to be ignored. I just wish more people would refuse to be ignored on other issues like education, wages, and Social Security.

[arely staircase]

17. the Justice Depts. raids on dispensories are wrong

I disagree with the Obama Justice Dept. on that. I do think it would be way worse under a Repub. and it is clear that if you want an end to marijuana prohibition. it is better to vote for Democrats, whether their candidates or the party specifically endorses ending prohibition.

[liberal_at_heart]

19. I don't agree. It was no worse under Bush than under Obama. In fact it has gotten worse under

Obama. There have been far more raids under Obama than under Bush. And what is really an insult is the way Obama jokes about it when asked about it. That just turns my stomach.

[arely staircase]

21. What party you support is so much more than who you support for president

and it is clear that states governed by Democrats are much more friendly to medical and way less punative of recreational marijuana use than Republicans.

[liberal_at_heart]

22. marijuana is only one issue. I am pissed at the democrats right now.

Wages, education, Social Security, healthcare, The DOJ prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries, but making a deal with Halliburton, Citizens United, The Patriot Act, The TPP trade agreement, NSA spying, use of drones, voters rights. It goes on and on and on. I am literally sick to my stomach right now thinking of how the 1% is destroying the working class and the democrats letting them. There will come a time when the people will not be ignored anymore by either party.

[Scurrilous]

23. K & R

[ProSense]

24. Here's a good question:

What is your best argument for voting for Democrats instead of Republicans?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023354179

My response: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023354179#post14