[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'T')he issue is corporations' unlimited "right" to influence elections and so policy without disclosure.

[Oneaboveall]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '[')This Federalist Society SCOTUS voting block represents the same dingbat anti-liberty people and ideas as ALEC, PNAC, and other Koch funded projects.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AdTheNad', 'S')o who donates more money, Soros or the Kochs? I don't have any figures here, but just think it through and try to be honest with yourself since you made the point.

[Cid_Yama]

That is absolute nonsense. The Republicans are constantly trying to put across this idea that there is no difference between the parties.

There is a BIG difference. Thr Republican Party is by and large Authoritarian and support corporations and the wealthy. Because they are Authoritarians it is easy for them to get into lockstep. Authoritarians like conformity, because it makes it easier to rule.

The Democrats are mostly Progressives supporting better conditions for the working class. That is their ideologocal roots. The Democrats are non-conformists, they do not have a single vision or vote in a block. Their base has traditionally been the labor unions which is about as organized as Progressives get.

It was the Democrats the passed the New Deal and created Social Security. It was the Democrats that created Medicare and Medicaid and the Food Stamp program. It was the Democrats created Unemployment Insurance.

These programs ensure that the elderly and the disabled do not die miserably after they no longer are able to work.

These programs ensure that children have proper nutrition and medical care during their formative years so that they may grow up to be productive members of society.

These programs ensure that the cyclical periods of recession/depression that we KNOW occur and will occur again in the future do not leave the unemployed unable to survive until the next upturn in the economy.

This is what the Democrats are about. The welfare of the people of the United States, the common good.

These programs the Republicans have tried to destroy since they were created.

These programs, at this very moment, are being targeted by the Republicans.

The Republicans have been at war with the working class since the end of the 19th century, when workers first organized to fight for better working conditions.

The Republicans now attempt to strip away all of the gains made by the American people over the last century. The American people by and large ARE the working class.

That is what this is all about.

[Whitefang]

Both parties are ruled by the same elite........opposames they are.
Same thing for Holland, 20 plus parties ruled by the few that control wealth, direct terror etc.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cid_Yama', 'T')here is a BIG difference. Thr Republican Party is by and large Authoritarian and support corporations and the wealthy. Because they are Authoritarians it is easy for them to get into lockstep. Authoritarians like conformity, because it makes it easier to rule.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'O')f course there is a huge difference, The Republican Party is by and large libertarian, believing in a restrained government and a free people; while the Democratic Party trumpets the merits of an overwhelmingly powerful Government with near divine capabilities caring for the restrained and dependent people who must take care to never irritate a member of a public employees union.
...etc.... Its just a matter of viewpoint and preference.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'O')f course there is a huge difference, The Republican Party is by and large libertarian, believing in a restrained government and a free people; while the Democratic Party trumpets the merits of an overwhelmingly powerful Government with near divine capabilities caring for the restrained and dependent people who must take care to never irritate a member of a public employees union.
...etc.... Its just a matter of viewpoint and preference.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'I')f they believe in a free ppl, why not allow gay marriage and legalize marijuana?

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'I')'m not an expert on US politics, but didn't the size of Government increase massively under Bush II?

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'I')'m not an expert on US politics, but didn't the size of Government increase massively under Bush II?

[Cid_Yama]

Unrestrained profit-seeking is always devastating because it is never cost effective to consider consequences outside of the bottom line.

It has already killed the biosphere.

Corporations are not people, they do not have a conscience. They do not feel guilt or remorse or compassion. They do not care the devastation they leave in their wake as long as it does not negatively affect the bottom line.

Unrestrained profit seeking is a failed ideology.

It has been proven to be detrimental to the common good.

That is why Government is necessary to regulate and curb excesses.

Goverment is necessary to protect the well-being and welfare of the people.

And that is exactly the reason corporatists hate government. It stands in the way of unrestrained profit seeking. That is the exact reason why the Koch brothers hate government.

Government's roll is to protect the people from the devastation being wrought by unrestrained profit seeking.

Adam Smith warned about the misery that would be spewed around the world by unrestrained profit seeking. He was right.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ame reason Democrats oppose gun ownership.
The issues are what you might thing of as loss-leaders

[Cid_Yama]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ame reason Democrats oppose gun ownership.
The issues are what you might thing of as loss-leaders

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')i]Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand

I'm going down to shoot my old lady
You know, I've caught her messin' around with another man
I'm going down to shoot my old lady
You know, I've caught her messin' around with another man
And that ain't too cool

You know, I caught my old lady messin' around town
And I gave her the gun

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'D')emocrats don't oppose gun ownership, where did you pick up this load of crap?

[vision-master]

In 1986 Ronald Reagan signed the executive order that no military style firearms could be imported into the US, and that full automatic weapons produced from the day of signing this order could not be sold to civilians. This however did not include silencers.


http://www.mdwguns.com/NFA_Items.html

[Cid_Yama]

Opposing unrestricted ownership of automatic weapons is not the same as opposing gun ownership.

This topic is off topic and needs to be moved elsewhere.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'I')'m pretty convinced by this thread, that the problem isn't that the Evil Koch Brothers are out to take over the world; its that the Evil Koch Brothers want the party that some of you guys despise to win elections.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'I')'m pretty convinced by this thread, that the problem isn't that the Evil Koch Brothers are out to take over the world; its that the Evil Koch Brothers want the party that some of you guys despise to win elections.