We are rapidly approaching what may well prove to be the most important election in this nation's history, one that will have a monumental impact on its future direction. As millions of Americans struggle with the decision on how to cast their votes they become more and more confused as they hear many of their fellow citizens proclaiming that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans; that they are exactly the same.
It's time that this misrepresentation of the facts is strongly challenged. It's one thing to simply make a statement that's based on one's emotions or generalizations but it's an entirely different matter when such statements have to be supported by concrete facts and evidence. To say that these two parties are exactly alike is to say that their platforms, their legislative agendas, political tactics, and the addressing of peoples' needs and concerns are identical. To advance that unsupported belief is doing a great disservice to the American people who need to be guided in their decisions by facts, not by supposition or conjecture.
To say that the parties are exactly the same is like saying that all corporations exactly the same, that they all are card carrying members of the profit-crazed entity called Corporate America? That's simply not true. Those who are causing great damage to America are mostly the giant transnational corporations who have outsourced millions of jobs, closed many thousands of plants and use every tactic at their disposal to pay little or no taxes. But there are thousands of corporations in the U.S. who still employ American workers, pay them decent wages and benefits, and pay their share of taxes.
Here's yet another example of why we can't just make such blanket judgments. In this national media should we consider Fox News and MSNBC as being exactly the same when the former strongly supports the GOP and its demented agenda and the latter champions the Democratic Party? Would you say that MSNBC hosts Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O'Donnell are exactly the same as Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly? Both news organizations clearly support the political ideologies of their own parties and continually show their disdain and revulsion for the other. While MSNBC fails to offer appropriate criticisms of Mr. Obama and the Democrats as they should, those at Fox News march in lockstep with the GOP.
Since I believe that the upcoming elections of 2012 are critically important to this nation's future and that it is absolutely essential that Americans are informed and educated about the issues and the clear differences between the two parties, I will ask once again, as I have in the past: in the following list, which of these issues involving very important government programs or legislation are the Democrats and Republicans even remotely close to having the same positions? I would like everyone who believes that Democrats and Republicans have the exact same positions on dealing with these critical issues to support their contention with very clear facts and concrete evidence that proves their case.
*Healthcare,
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid; please give specific details on
why you may think that each party's position is exactly the same.
*Food
stamps, student loans, unemployment benefits; show how there is no
difference between the two parties.
*Filibusters,
blocking all legislation on jobs, blocking judicial appointments; show
evidence on how each party is filibustering and blocking important legislation.
Just last week the Republicans filibustered the Bring Jobs Home Act that
Democrats proposed to bring back jobs to America. Then the Republicans did
the same on the DISCLOSE Act that would identify those who are corrupting our
political process with hundreds of millions of dollars of campaign
contributions.
*Destroying unions and union rights; laying off teachers, police and
firefighters ; which party is still trying to support these
entities and which one is trying to tear them down?
*Support
of the 1%, escalating the disparity of income, wealth in America; which party
totally sides with the 1% and which one is supportive of the 99%?
*Enacting
laws to reverse outsourcing by using tax incentives and penalties;
which party recently tried to pass legislation to do this and which party
killed the effort?
*Working
to eliminate important regulations on air, water, drilling and mining standards;
which party represents the interests of the corporations who are trying to
destroy any and all regulations and doing away with the EPA?
*Voter
suppression laws; is it Republican governors and their legislatures in
several states that have enacted these anti-democratic laws or do you, somehow,
believe that the Democrats did it?
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