Re: The myth that the Dems are as bad as the Repugs

Republicans have become so radically conservative that if Ronald
Reagan were alive he would be considered a moderate.
----
we only have one moderate gop candidate

Reagan famously said "It is not the business of other nations to make
American foreign policy."

That set off a wave of anti-Semitic hate mail to senators. The AWACS
sale triumphed in the Senate, and the apparent succumbing to warnings
about excessive Jewish influence was a shock for a pro-Israel
community that had been confident in its influence since the Yom
Kippur war.

Reagan attempted to make amends after the vote by proposing a
strategic relationship with Israel in November 1981. Begin and the
Knesset surprised Reagan a month later by annexing the Golan Heights,
territory claimed by Syria.

Reagan withdrew his offer, and two months after Reagan's October
remark Begin got his own back at Reagan: Israel was nobody's "banana
republic," the Israeli prime minister said, a defiant statement that
undermined Reagan's desire to appear in control of events.

Less than a year later, in June 1982, tempers flared again when Israel
invaded Lebanon in order to oust the PLO from its stronghold there.
Israel said it got a "yellow light" from Secretary of State Haig -- a
fact that helped accelerate Haig's departure from office.

More substantially, Reagan secretly formulated a plan not only to pull
Israeli troops out of Lebanon, but to force Israel into withdrawing
from the West Bank and Gaza. He ultimately envisioned Palestinian
autonomy in a federal system with Jordan.

On Feb 12, 5:07 pm, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The myth that the Dems are as bad as the Repugs
> By
> Don Smith (about the author)
>
> opednews.com
>
> On progressive websites such as OpEdNews, it is common to find
> articles and comments in which angry leftists say, "The Democrats are
> as bad as the Republicans" or "Obama is as bad as Bush."
>
> I'm highly critical of the Democrats and Obama on many issues. (See,
> for example, my Petition expressing extreme disappointment with
> President Obama's policies.) So don't accuse me of being blind to the
> Dems' failings. But any reasonable evaluation of the evidence leads to
> the conclusion that as bad as the Democrats and Obama sometimes are,
> the Republicans are even worse, much worse on some issues.
>
> You think Obama is bad? Wait til you see what Romney or Gingrich or
> Santorum would do -- especially if the Republicans control Congress.
>
> And in Congress there are many moderate Dems and some progressive Dems
> who are trying valiantly to do what's right.
>
> This doesn't mean that I think people who refuse to vote for Obama in
> November are necessarily foolish -- I respect negative views about
> Obama and do not look forward to having to cast my vote -- but it does
> mean that the decision to not vote for Obama shouldn't be taken
> lightly. Especially if the election is close.
>
> The situation is grim, maybe a lot grimmer than people realize.
>
> GOP and Dems by Don Smith (from Art Explosion)
>
> So what makes me say that Obama and the Dems are not as bad as the Republicans?
>
> Obama got rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell. He ended the war in Iraq (at
> least the official war -- I'm sure there are plenty of mercenaries
> there and who-knows-what-else). He required insurance policies of
> church-affiliated non-profits (but not churches) to fund health care
> for employees (including paying for contraception). He appointed
> moderates to the Supreme Court (Sotomayor and Kagan); a Republican
> president would have appointed right wing ideologues. He nixed (for
> now, at least) the Keystone Pipeline. He passed the Patient Care and
> Protection Act ("Obamacare") that, despite its many weaknesses, does
> at least put limits on insurance company profits (see Obamacare the
> path to single-payer? Or to insurance companies as utilities?) and
> forbids them from peremptorily denying coverage. And it extends
> coverage to children up to age 26 and will lead to savings.
>
> He did save the economy from collapse.
>
> Obama and the Dems passed legislation (Dodd-Frank (DF) Wall Street
> Reform and Consumer Protection Act) to regulate Wall Street and the
> banks (despite significant opposition from the Repugs). Yes, it was
> watered down, but no, a Republican president and Congress wouldn't
> have allowed even that.
>
> Obama worked to shut down overseas tax havens. (See Obama's push on
> tax havens has the Swiss shivering). He signed the Lilly Ledbetter
> Fair Pay Act; Instituted equal pay for women. He removed restrictions
> and provided support for embryonic stem-cell research and new
> biomedical research (source).
>
> On numerous occasions, the Republicans voted unanimously against
> Democrats' bills. Remember? Even the watered-down bills that the
> Democrats proposed were too much for the Republicans. (This paragraph
> deserves elaboration in the form of a listing of the bills the Dems
> tried but failed to pass.)
>
> If Republicans had their way, abortion would be illegal, public
> schools and Social Security would be privatized, taxes would be cut
> for the rich even more. (Of course, they are largely getting their way
> on taxes even now; Obama has done a terrible job at fighting the GOP.)
> Homosexuals would be second class citizens. The EPA would be
> dismantled. Medicare would be scaled back. Banks and oil companies
> would be even more deregulated. The military would be getting even
> more money, and we'd probably be fighting even more overseas wars --
> at least judging by the hawkish rhetoric of GOP candidates.
>
> There are many moderate and even progressive Democrats in Congress.
> Republicans have become so radically conservative that if Ronald
> Reagan were alive he would be considered a moderate. In the states,
> there are even more progressive Democrats. Where I live, in Washington
> State, most of the lower level activists are quite progressive, and
> the state platform is a highly progressive document. The Dems often
> don't follow it, but many try.
>
> This 3D Interactive Visualization of US Senators' Voting Records
> shows, kinda scientifically, how far apart the Republicans are from
> the Democrats.
>
>  1 | 2
>
> http://waliberals.org
>
> Links and More:
>
> opednews.com
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy

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