What is a democrat?

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What is….

I am starting a series called, “What is..”. And it will be more in general terms, and thoughts, than in deep thoughtful work. The topics I will cover deal with politics, What is a Democrat? A Republican? A liberal? A Conservative? A Progressive, or a Tea Party Member. We hear the terms tossed around, on Fox News, and with disdain on MSNBC, CNN CBS, NBC, ABC, but what are they really?

So, I will try to answer those questions, for those who may have them, and see if maybe someone can make some sense of all this political brouhaha.

So, What is a Democrat?

I have to admit, for the most part, I have always known that a Democrat is someone who doesn't believe what I do. “They” are to the ‘left’ of the political spectrum. So, I am kind of excited to find out what it is that they truly believe, and who knows, maybe we are closer to somethings than I have previously thought.  But on the main points, I know we don't share the same beliefs. I don't believe in Abortion as a form of birth control, and they seem to. I also don't think I have the right to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her body, and again, they seem to. So, what do “they” believe.

Well, the first site I went to online, talks about the differences between Republicans and Democrats, and this seems to be a very well written site. Democrats are “Centrist to the Left of the political spectrum, While an individual voter may not agree with every position taken by his or her chosen political party, a Democrat tends to believe in a progressive social agenda, workers' rights, diplomacy over military action and a clear separation between church and state. “[i]

Okay, based on that, what does it seem to say? Progressive Social Agenda, well that explains why Homosexual groups are mostly Democrats, as they see them as having the ability to acceptance for their choices and their ways of life. Yet, there are Homosexual Republicans, so as a ‘group’ they don’t see things in a complete harmonious agreement. Therein lays an interesting viewpoint or question, should it be up to the Federal Government to decide how people can live their lives? Where does the intrusion end? Is it right to dictate what happens in the bedroom between two consenting adults?

We see where Progressives and Democrats take a stand on issues that follow their party dictates. Some Progressives see President Obama as one of their own, not as a Democrat, but as a Progressive, because he is suppose to ‘Change’ the world and the way we, America, are viewed in it. And as a Democrat in the United States Senate, he was the most liberal member there, which is saying something when you have Ted Kennedy or Harry Reid in the Senate, or comparisons to Nancy Pelosi or Barney Frank in the House of Representatives.

There are reports in the news, and with some of my Facebook friends, about how some feel the President Obama didn’t go far enough with Health Care, and hasn’t moved fast enough with his Progressive, and some say a Socialist agenda. Which leads me into the next aspect of What makes a Democrat…

Workers Rights, now this is a touchy subject with me, having been in two different Unions, as a condition of employment, not by choice. Well, one was by choice, but they were going to take Union Dues out of my paycheck even if I hadn’t joined, and with power tools being involved, having some kind of backing isn’t always a bad thing, even though it had totally inept leadership up at the top of the union.

By saying that Democrats are for this and Republican’s are not, makes it sound like Republicans are soulless individuals who don’t care about the individual worker, which I have never seen to be true. Taking Workers Rights back to the Health Care Debate, how is it fair for someone to HAVE to supply Health Insurance to their employees? For the small business man, it is a death blow. Health Insurance IS NOT guaranteed by the Constitution, nor was it ever intended to be. So, some person has an idea for a business, they open a shop or a store, and they have a success, YAY! That should be celebrated, not killed. If they chose to expand their business, they hire someone, they have, HAVE TO PROVIDE Health Insurance for their employees. When I worked for McDonnell Douglas, even for the money they were making, the cost of Health Care was outrageous, and the cost to the employees themselves was pas the point of cheap. I had 100% coverage for 2.49 a week, while making 15 dollars an hour.

Republicans do care about the workers, and providing for the workers, but they also have to answer to shareholders, or the bosses don’t have jobs. So, are Unions totally bad? No, they had their purpose and time, and they were, sad to say, NEEDED due to how owners took advantage of the labor work force in the later part of the 1800’s to early 1900’s. Massive profits were being made, while the worker had deplorable conditions to work in. Look at the coal mines in Kentucky and West Virginia, Black Lung was killing workers, who lived in a company town, and all their money went to what the company wanted, housing costs, food costs, clothing costs, and God forbid you had a family. No health care for the employees, and if you got hurt, you got tossed, and a fresh person was brought in to take your place.

What about now since we have arrived in the 21^st Century? Do we really need to pay 3 dollars for a dozen eggs at the local Kroger due to having to provide benefits for their employees and families? Well, sadly, in some industries, YES, that kind of protection is still needed, because the Federal Government, which can’t decide the simplest of things, cannot protect the workplace for American workers. Greed and shareholders send jobs overseas where they don’t have the regulations and can turn a massive profit, and they can buy a new yacht for the summer season. There is a National Relations Labor Board, but they are toothless, and can easily be pushed around, because the Federal Government is more concerned with our sleeping habit, or I should say, our bedroom habits to be concerned with the Work Habits of its people. So, on this aspect, yes, there is work to be done, and some smart people need to get on it, but please, don’t let them say, “We’re here from the government”.

Okay, now, diplomacy verses a military action. There should always be a willingness to talk over war, but what happens next? When Mr. Obama took over the White House, he chose to say that we need to find diplomatic solutions to the problems of the world, and that he would get right on that. Cool, how’s that working for ya?

Iran, they have pretty much ignored what has been said, what has been done, and are going ahead with Nuclear Energy, Plutonium Enrichment, and well, we ALL know they are going to make a bomb. A REALLY BIG MOTHER TRUCKIN BOMB. And there is nothing we can do about it. How many Democrats voted for invasion of Afghanistan after 9-11 when the Taliban had taken credit for what had happened? Who REALLY wanted Al Gore Jr. in the White House to say, Hey, We are sorry for your grievances, let’s get together and talk things out…

No one. Well, maybe a few, but they are still out there smoking their ‘crops’ and still in a haze. Would it have been better had no of this happened? YES! When dealing with a group whose only concern is to force their views and beliefs on the rest of the world, by hook or by crook, by death, destruction, murder, killing of innocents, even their own innocents, well, welcome to the real world, there are times with it is war to protect those we care about.

Democrats like to say it is someone else’s problem, or concerns, and they aren’t responsible. REALLY? FDR brought us Social Security, I have paid into it for 33 years and it won’t be around when I come to collect it. It is a SOCIAL ENTITLEMENT, which we can no longer afford, like a One Payer Health Care System, Medicaid, Medicare, but the way to pay for it is to take the money from those who have earned it, as long as it isn’t their money, and who cares if it puts people out of business? That is their problem for having the American Initiative, the drive and hope for a better future for their own.

But then, what would I know? I am only a Republican; I OBVIOUSLY don’t care about people, right?

 

These are my thoughts, and how Mark C’s it.

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[i] http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-democrat.htm