Has the Democrat Party gone more left wing/liberal the last 20 yrs?

[FrontNakedChoke]

I accidentally voted no

 

[DickSarp]

I accidentally voted no

So why are you telling everyone you're a fuckup? Is this a new type of humor?

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

So why are you telling everyone you're a fuckup? Is this a new type of humor?

Clicked the wrong answer on an internet poll.

What a fuck up I am.

 

[DickSarp]

What positions did they move right on?

Healthcare, Union Labor, Taxation, deregulation, Military solutions to foreign entanglements,
Healthcare: wanted UHC, got an old republican plan instead
Union Labor: Unionization continues to shrink, jobs shipped overseas, trade agreements facilitating those job losses and/or giving tyrannical control to corporations. Put another way, what the hell has the democratic party done to help labor unions?
Taxation: extending Bush Tax cuts, Obama's payroll tax reduction holiday boondoggle which further damaged the funding of the program. Also, Obama offered to cut SS further in a grand bargain with republicans
Deregulation: Clinton signed the Graham bill gutting Glass Steagall and opening the door to our economic crash of 2008,
Military bluster: the senatorial support for the illegal Iraq invasion was almost homogeneous but for Russ Feingold.

It still boggles my mind that the democratic party thought it okeydokey to let Wall Street keep its ill gotten gains...not to mention that not a single person was charged let alone arrested for the crimes of theft, fraud, conspiracy and on and on.

I would say those actions above show a marked move to the right. We can talk about intentions and platforms, but where the rubber meets the road, the shift rightward is manifestly evident.

 

[DickSarp]

Clicked the wrong answer on an internet poll.

What a fuck up I am.

So why are you telling everyone about it?

Let it go. We all make mistakes.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

So why are you telling everyone about it?

Let it go. We all make mistakes.

Sarcasm.
I was mostly telling my friend, the threadstarter @ripskater

 

[DickSarp]

Sarcasm.
I was mostly telling my friend, the threadstarter @ripskater

Dude, I am on my third night of insomnia. I apologize.

 

[Makani]

As someone primarily concerned with economics, I'd say no. There are definitely elements of the party trying to push that issue left (Bernie & Co.) and elements that only really care about social issues (the "SJW" crowd), but the people in charge of the party are still centrists, and it'd be tough to point to policy that really defies that.

Sidenote, is gay marriage even a left wing thing? I know that's how it shook out, but realistically shouldn't the right have been in board with the freedom to marry who you want?

 

[ripskater]

I accidentally voted no

I'll switch it to allow changing your vote.
See if you can change it now.

 

[cincymma79]

As someone primarily concerned with economics, I'd say no. There are definitely elements of the party trying to push that issue left (Bernie & Co.) and elements that only really care about social issues (the "SJW" crowd), but the people in charge of the party are still centrists, and it'd be tough to point to policy that really defies that.

Sidenote, is gay marriage even a left wing thing? I know that's how it shook out, but realistically shouldn't the right have been in board with the freedom to marry who you want?

That always puzzled me. The right shouldn’t want a government that’s even involved in that

 

[ripskater]

As someone primarily concerned with economics, I'd say no. There are definitely elements of the party trying to push that issue left (Bernie & Co.) and elements that only really care about social issues (the "SJW" crowd), but the people in charge of the party are still centrists, and it'd be tough to point to policy that really defies that.

Sidenote, is gay marriage even a left wing thing? I know that's how it shook out, but realistically shouldn't the right have been in board with the freedom to marry who you want?

Gays could always marry. They could marry the opposite sex. Oregon had it's first homosexual (bi) govorner. Because of what the definition of marriage was man and woman could marry. Gay, bi, trans whatever, it just had to be a man and a woman.

What happened was the definition of marriage got changed. The right and conservatives were against that.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Healthcare, Union Labor, Taxation, deregulation, Military solutions to foreign entanglements,
Healthcare: wanted UHC, got an old republican plan instead
Union Labor: Unionization continues to shrink, jobs shipped overseas, trade agreements facilitating those job losses and/or giving tyrannical control to corporations. Put another way, what the hell has the democratic party done to help labor unions?
Taxation: extending Bush Tax cuts, Obama's payroll tax reduction holiday boondoggle which further damaged the funding of the program. Also, Obama offered to cut SS further in a grand bargain with republicans
Deregulation: Clinton signed the Graham bill gutting Glass Steagall and opening the door to our economic crash of 2008,
Military bluster: the senatorial support for the illegal Iraq invasion was almost homogeneous but for Russ Feingold.

Wanted single payer, didn't get it, compromised with a more moderate reform, many still want single payer. The actual healthcare system moved left, and the fight is continuing. Not accurate to say that the party moved right.

The Democratic Party hasn't moved right on unions--Republicans have. And policy/actions that affect unions tend to be more subtle. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-obama-has-tilted-the-workplace-for-unions/article/2601330. Again, no evidence that they've moved right in the past 20 years on the issue, and real evidence that they've moved left.

Don't get what you're saying about taxation. Progressive tax cuts put a lot of money in the hands of the middle class and poor. The partial repeal of the Bush cuts left in the cuts to lower income and increased taxation on higher incomes, thus increasing the progressiveness of the system. The EITC expansion lifted bottom 10% incomes by a quarter. And, yes, Obama offered to cut SS to make a deal, but it certainly wasn't a preference.

You mention Clinton-era banking deregulation, which was more than 20 years ago, but not Obama-era new banking regs. That's a clear sign of the platform shifting left.

Generally, what you see with Obama is a more pragmatic approach that has led to concrete results that have moved policy to the left. It's not an ideological shift to the right as much as a tactical one.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

I'll switch it to allow changing your vote.
See if you can change it now.

Switched it, thanks Rip!

 

[Makani]

Gays could always marry. They could marry the opposite sex. Oregon had it's first homosexual (bi) govorner. Because of what the definition of marriage was man and woman could marry. Gay, bi, trans whatever, it just had to be a man and a woman.

What happened was the definition of marriage got changed. The right and conservatives were against that.

We'll have to disagree that the definition of marriage was between a man and a woman to begin with. Just because it has always been one way doesn't inherently make it that way. It was probably one of the lamest political fights in the country's history.

 

[Thycidides]

People are bringing up gay marriage and these various culture trends as evidence of Democrats being left wing but the Democratic Party had little to do with that. It is and was mostly the courts and organizations and people that had little to do with the Democratic Party.

It is the same with Black Lives Matter and these other social movements, the Democrats aren't in control of them and are more bystanders than allies. Colin Kapernick isn't a elected official or DNC party boss. In fact it is the right wing, Trump and the GOP that is politicizing football etc.

In any case a lot of these cultural issues can't really be solved through normal politics or policies and especially not right wing ones. I can't imagine the Supreme Court reversing itself on gay marriage and even if it did, it just means marriage is even less common.

 

[mudflap mike]

Switched it, thanks Rip!

whew, good thing you were able to switch or else the poll would not be accurate.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

whew, good thing you were able to switch or else the poll would not be accurate.

Again, I just didn't want my brother in arms thinking I had gone and switched sides like a traitor.

The results are clear.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

I'm guessing Chomskys critique of the left flew right by you.

The critique where he also says "we should be glad we have these activists"?

As long as we're throwing out Chomsky critiques, I like the one where unambiguously talks about the current right:

It is important to bear in mind that the Republicans have long abandoned the pretense of functioning as a normal parliamentary party. Rather, they have become a “radical insurgency” that scarcely seeks to participate in normal parliamentary politics

https://www.salon.com/2015/09/23/no...t_its_not_that_different_from_the_mainstream/

I mean, has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth? Not that I’m aware of. Is the Republican organization—I hesitate to call it a party—committed to that? Overwhelmingly. There isn’t even any question about it.

But hey, the liberals have pink haired lesbians saying stuff I don't like, therefore go Trump.

 

[ralphc1]

I think so. Even the Clintons in the 90's were for strong borders, not Islam apologists and Islamophobia fighters and not pushing the LGBTQ agenda on children that we see today.


And I would say that they are the reason this country is so divided. The Democrat Party has gone so far left on many issues, there is no common ground on some of these.

Even back in the 90's many Democrats could agree that borders should be secure and don't have transgender storytime for children at the library.


Anyway, Yes or No, and explain your answer.

You think they've moved left because you've moved farther to the right on the return slavery to the US and kill anybody who doesn't fit your religious mold.