Fight for Democracy, Part 6: What is a Democrat?

Since we are in a two-party system (read Part 3) and you have to pick sides, let’s look at what Democrats represent.

While it’s easy to cast aspersions at the other side (whichever side that is), and perhaps more effective to fall back on emotional arguments, I prefer to stick with facts and figures, policy and positions. And I know it’s not a popular opinion, but I think most people who run for office (in either party) truly want to improve things and think they have better ideas. I’m sure most have other motives as well - we all like to make money, gain prestige and privilege, so they do too. It’s too easy to say all politicians suck (except mine). They just represent our country, and a lot of people in our country suck, so it’s only fair. So let’s not focus so much on people and personalities and look at core positions.

I’ll do my best to summarize what I consider important areas, but if you really want to know what Democrats stand for, just ask them. Each candidate will have their own variation of the fundamental agenda, but the Democratic Party itself lists it’s favored policies and positions right here: https://www.democrats.org/party-platform. If people actually read these I think they might be surprised at how much they agree with them - if you poll people on ideas instead of policy, the majority almost always sides with the Democrats.

Let’s start with healthcare. Democrats believe everyone deserves quality healthcare and profits should not come before people. The U.S. is the only rich country in the world that hasn’t found a way to provide reasonable healthcare to almost all its people, largely driven by government-provided care. Instead we have a for-profit insurance system that leaves many uncovered and costs more than any other country’s alternative. Democrats passed the ACA (Affordable Care Act) which actually reduced the uninsured by almost 30 million people and lowered the rate of growth of insurance prices. This included getting rid of pre-existing condition restrictions and lifetime caps on insurance payments. Democrats have offered a number of other alternatives that would provide more coverage for more people and ultimately at a cheaper price. Republicans have tried and will try again to pass laws that allow insurance companies to discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions and to limit the amount of money you can receive in your lifetime. All the Republican plans will lead to fewer people covered (which means more deaths every year) and will do nothing to substantially slow the rate of price increases. I’ll discuss healthcare in more detail at a later date, but the differences are clear and fundamental.

Democrats believe the rich should pay more in taxes to pay for government services that affect us all. Republicans have repeatedly decreased taxes for the rich, including their recent corporate tax cut, which has created a large government deficit. Honestly, if we just went back to the tax structure we had in Reagan’s early years we’d have something close to what Democrats are asking for - not exactly rabid socialism.

Democrats believe that multiculturalism is what America was built upon (remember the Melting Pot?) and immigration that is controlled and allows for a path to citizenship will benefit us in the future. Republicans ban Muslims, deport Dreamers, and separate brown-skinned children from their parents. Every economic study shows that immigrants (legal and otherwise) increase our economic productivity. Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-borns. Current illegal immigration is at a thirty year low. Immigration is not destroying this country, we don’t need to spend billions of dollars on a wall to stop it (especially because a wall wouldn’t stop it anyway), and we don’t need to demonize people who come to this country for a better life simply because their skin is darker and they don’t speak English.

Along those lines, Democrats believe that structural racism still exists today and needs to be fought and overcome. Our criminal justice system has institutional biases against people of color that need to be changed. This isn’t saying that everyone is a racist, or even that most white people are (though there are plenty: https://www.vox.com/2018/8/10/17670992/study-white-americans-alt-right-racism-white-nationalists). Systemic racism is less about how individuals think of and treat other individuals, but about how implicit biases and past events create a disadvantage for a class of people. Systemic racism comes from the historic racism in our country (hopefully we can all agree that racism and racist systems were prevalent in the founding of our country and long into our life as a nation). Democrats believe that we don’t simply wait for things to get better (equal) for our fellow Americans, but that we need to pass and enforce civil rights laws to ensure equality of opportunity. If you’re not sure what systemic racism is, whether it’s really a problem in this country, then you really owe it to society to do a little research: http://www.jbwtucker.com/ultimate-white-privilege-statistics/

Democrats believe that Climate Change is real and humans play a significant role in causing it. As our planet warms, our environment will change in ways that costs money and lives: sea level rise, fiercer storms, more wildfires. The best way to combat this, and save money and lives, is to reduce our use of fossil fuels and convert to less carbon-intensive energy production. That means fuel-efficient cars, supporting solar and wind instead of the huge government subsidies we give to coal and gas. And while Republicans, if they’re willing to talk about this at all, always decry the costs to business, the truth is a fast and committed shift to renewable energy would actually be better for our economy overall - just not for some of the players who currently dominate the market. Check out this report from CitiGroup, not exactly a bunch of environmental do-gooders: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/aug/31/citi-report-slowing-global-warming-would-save-tens-of-trillions-of-dollars
https://newclimateeconomy.report/2018/executive-summary/


Democrats believe in finance reform to remove the influence of money from politics. I know, Democrats still take tons of money from corporations. But you can’t change the rules to the game unless you win, and our current game is set up to rely on such money. Maybe the Democrats won’t be better, won’t clean up our system if they are in charge. But right now Republicans are in charge and they are only making things worse - they’re changing the rules to not only allow more money but to be able to hide where that money comes from. The Democrats might not be better, but they can’t be worse. Democrats at least have some fixes in their platform (https://www.democrats.org/party-platform#campaign-finance) and quite a few candidates are refusing corporate sponsorship.

Democrats believe in reducing gun violence through sensible restrictions. Universal background checks, taking away guns from domestic abusers, require secure storage for households with children, limiting large-capacity clips and weapons easily converted to fully automatic firing. They’re not trying to ban all guns. They’re not suggesting anything that doesn’t have a majority of public support (https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/233627/ten-takeaways-americans-views-guns.aspx). None of these measures will qualitatively reduce your ability to hunt or own a gun for self-defense.

Democrats believe in giving women the right to choose. They believe abortion should be legal, though most believe certain reasonable restrictions are fine. Republicans, at the policy level, continually try to impose more and more restrictions with a stated goal of making abortion unavailable to women who want it.

Democrats are liberal, some more than others. That means their policies are driven by helping the less fortunate, supporting the disadvantaged and discriminated against, and welcoming people of different religions, races, sexes, and backgrounds. They are inclusive, and while this might create some tensions and may mean that your particular group doesn’t get all the attention or support you want, it’s a better way than the alternative. Republicans, whatever their words might be, clearly advocate for exclusion - no Muslims, no homosexuals, no Hispanics. Their policies explicitly favor the status quo, which means white, male power. It’s the difference between trying to do what’s right for others versus arguing that pursuing your own self-interest is somehow noble.

Democrats believe in democracy. They believe in one person = one vote. They believe in allowing and encouraging everyone to vote. Republicans have waged a decades-long battle on voting rights. From gerrymandering districts, to voter-ID laws which discriminate against the poor (when there is NO evidence of any significant voter fraud), to such petty practices as trying to close voting locations in black communities or restricting the hours of voting. The polling data and voting record is clear that there are far more Democrat-leaning eligible voters than Republican-leaning ones, so the Republicans only hope, the only way they’ve held on to power, is by rigging a system so a minority can rule. It’s the antithesis of the American Way.

Finally, Democrats want to hold the current administration accountable for its many ethical, moral, and legal failures, all of which require a Congress willing to act as an oversight against corruption. Republicans are turning a blind eye towards a violation of laws and norms upon which our democracy rests. If you have any sense of history, think about how your actions will be remembered, think upon what you will say to your grandchildren about how you lived up to your morals.