A Brief History of Democrats' Cave-Ins on Major Issues

[Yavin4]

Again, for those proposing that the Dems cave-in to the Christian right. Let's look at a brief history of Democratic cave-ins on major issues in the recent past, shall we:

On Trade
1. Clinton caved in and signed into law NAFTA and GATT.

2. Kerry never proposed using government to stop or at slow down outsourcing.

On Welfare
1. Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 which ended a federal entitlement to poor families.

On Crime
1. Various Democrats around the country have supported mandatory minimun sentences which have exploded the U.S. prison population.

2. Clinton supported the Death penalty.

3. Various Democrats have supported "Three Strikes" laws which have also exploded the prison population.

On Healthcare
1. Democrats as a party have not supported the single payer national healthcare system a la Canada's system, even though American seniors who live on the border to Canada go there for their prescription drugs and flu shots.

On Media
1. Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act which has given birth to the corporate whore media that so many of us complain about.

On The Patriot Act
1. The majority of the Dems in congress supported this.

On The Iraq War
1. The majority of the Dems in congress supported this.

On The Dept. of Homeland Security
1. The majority of the Dems in congress supported this.

So, what did the Dems get for all of these compromises and cave-ins? We get the most extreme, radical, reggressive, right-wing government and media in our nation's history. So, do you still believe that caving in on Gay rights and abortion is a good idea?

[Bill McBlueState]

1. excellent post!

It really helps to see all these cave-ins in one place.

[hang a left]

2. Good Post.

Let us not forget the many others. Just off the top of my head the appropriations bill signed into law last year that snuck in portions of Patriot Act II.

The 87 Billion for the Iraq war that had absolutely no oversight into the funds allocated written into the bill. The Medicare Bill. On and on and on. I can't even watch CSPAN anymore. They all make me sick.

[Cleita]

3. So the DINO's have done this.

Let's break away from them. I think if the liberal base does break away, the DLC DINO's will be too small of a party to matter anymore.

[Cocoa]

4. the discussion should include social issues

what is this about, if it's not about abortion?

The obvious bit of dem history to look at, especially a week after Tom Daschle lost, is the filibuster of Bush's judges, which no doubt contributed to that loss.

A question might be, was it worth it? My answer would be yes, due to the fact that judges are nominated for life, and these were some pretty bad judges. And with the Bush administration running things, the judiciary is absolutely crucial. Look at how many times Ashcroft has been thwarted in federal courts.

[Robert Oak]

5. why outsourcing activists claimed "no difference"

They didn't believe Kerry would do anything, it was rhetoric,
pandering. I claimed they would do something and were more open,
especially since leading economists were not proving the "free trade mantra" as being not a win for the US...but many just plain would not vote for Kerry or Bush.

All of those free trade agreements sealed the deal for many concerned with the middle class.

this really hurt Kerry in Ohio.

I agree with this post. Excellent. I am hoping these people stop pandering, soft shoeing, rewrite their platform and stick to it, period.

by doing this, they have slowly but surely enabled the radical right to gain power over the years.

If they actually do believe in something, they need to shore up, stand up and fight.

And from what I can see they are going to need strength to stand up and filibuster and fight.

[OneBlueSky]

6. seems that Democrat = Republican Lite . . .

but, hey . . . we knew that, now didn't we? . . . Nader may be a self-centered jerk, but on the issue of there being no significant differences between the major parties, he's dead on . . .

[Paxdora]

9. So WHY

do we keep saying Democrat with the upper case "d"???

I am a democrat, but the Bau-Wau Party is hardly close to that word anymore.

[Yavin4]

7. Kick

A shameless kick, but I didn't want to lose the post.

[Paxdora]

8. The Bau-Wau Party Needs to Be Purged or Die

The Democratic Party has clearly been demonstrating for a long time that it's not the political party of The People anymore. Have liberals and progressives become so deaf and blind that they must hang on to anything that is remotely familiar just to maintain a semblance of security?

The damned Dems will neither satisfy nor represent the majority of its taken-for-granted base as long as the leadership of entrenched high priests and gurus continue to worship at the altar of their ideological deity, Bau-Wau (business-as-usual, war-as-usual). If you are a Bau-Wau follower, you are in the proper temple.

If you're not into BAU-WAUism, it's time to pack up your deepest ideals and hit the higher road - step out and away from that hallowed 'pragmatic' road that inevitably steers all traffic to the Big C's of Corruption: Capitulation, Collusion, Collaboration, Cronyism, Crass Comfort and Cretinous Conformity. Find and join a congregation that matches your conscience and political goals.

OR, you can start planning for a counter-usurpation - the high priests and gurus of Bau-Wau, the original usurpers that seized control of The People's Democratic Party, must be deposed from their lofty thrones, by every means necessary, immediately if not sooner. IF successful, the gates of The People's temple (working for a true Democratic Republic that scorns Bau-Wau) can finally be flung open to embrace all Greens, Independents, Progressives, small "L" libertarians, and any other compatible political persuasion that despises the Duopolist parties' Corporatist suppression of We The People.

Internal Catharsis and Exorcism (purging) of Bau-Wau worship is the only thing that would restore The People's party to its former aims. Splintering or dividing up into smaller and smaller congregations would sound the death-knell of a strong democracy within this nation. Diversity needs a large arena, a grand forum, in which to cohabit and interact symbiotically, with reasonably mutual goals for everyone to live in peace and harmony. Big money is NOT a proper political goal; We The UNITED People, was, and still ought to be, the greatest goal of our rebel republic. We must, if we're true democrats, stop scraping and bowing to the elitist Ladies and Lords of the Bau-Wau Party.

I want to see ALL the leaders of all the different and disparate progressive movements come together and sit under one roof, to finally come back to a "Democratic" Party, and begin working together earnestly to depose the reactionary plutocratic dividers of our country, to dismantle the inhuman systems of Corporatism and restore our nation to Direct Democracy via IRV and the abolition of the Electoral College. Anything less will doom our own country as well as the world to a revived feudalism and perpetual global warfare - and possibly destroy human civilization along with planetary ecosystems.

The People can either exorcise the Bau-Wau Party, and restore it to a healthy vitality, or let it slink off to die its deservedly slow death. The phony Dems may as well die for all they've done for democracy lately. A more difficult alternative is to construct another party for The People in a strong coalition of existing but splintered progressive political groups to "Save Our Republic".

But as long as the phony Dems remain devoted to Bau-Wau, I will NEVER go that way again.

Paxdora

The Earth is sacred,
The Universe is divine

http://www.paxdoraunlimited.com/PantheistAge

[wuushew]

10. Yes and Lieberman supports many of those things

DOMA, Iraq, Homeland Security, Corporate Welfare, etc.

I agree many Dems suck.