This diary is a response to a currently reclisted diary which makes the claim that the democratic party has moved to the right of Ronald Reagan. This claim is nothing but radical hyperbole.
One of the reasons I have always supported the Democratic Party, despite all its flaws, imperfections, and too-frequent compromise and enabling of republicans, is because American political parties can be boiled down to this one simple dichotomy:
Republicans are the party of political expedience. Democrats are not.
On virtually every issue, Republicans choose the side A) where the money is, or B) where they have easy pickings with the electorate, or usually C) Both
For some reason, democrats are consistently are on the wrong side of political expediency when it comes to money and the electorate. And I have always respected them for this, because democrats have, for better or worse when it comes to the health and wealth of the party, been guided by principle rather than expedience.
To wit:
The republicans seek to exploit the environment at every opportunity, and Reagan was one of the worst. Obviously the R’s stand to gain hundreds of millions from the Koch brothers et al. Democrats, as a whole, have stood against environmental exploitation (and compared to the Koch brothers they get a mere pittance from the Sierra Club and a few other environmental groups).
The republicans seek to exploit labor at every opportunity, and Reagan was one of the worst. Whether you feel democrats are doing enough to support labor, it doesn’t really matter: Democrats are far better on labor issues and than Reagan.
The republicans ( and particularly Reagan) support a regressive tax code that democrats have been at odds with for the last 36 years.
When it comes to issues of equality for women, non-whites, and the LGBT community, Republicans and the Democrats have never been further apart.
Gun control. Marijuana legalization. Death Penalty. Defense and defense budget. Welfare.
Freaking health care!
On which of these issues are the democrats, in all seriousness, to the right of Reagan? On what issues is the Democratic Party out there with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Pat Robertson?
If you want to claim that the Democrats are too given to compromise, that’s something altogether different. Everybody agrees that Democrats often cave too easily, welfare means testing being one obvious example.
But to claim that the Democratic Party is the the right of Reagan is histrionic hyperbole and can really only be made by people with kaliedescope glasses who have no comprehension of just how craven, corrupt, cynical, diaboical and evil the Reagan administration was.
