By Rob Macon
I’m writing this article, not as a Liberal or Conservative. Nor as a Socialist or of the Green Party. But perhaps to make a little clearer difference and comparison between Republicans and Democrats during this 2016 presidential election.
First, how did this Democrat/Republican thing get started anyway? The Democratic Party can be traced back to the year 1792 when the Anti-Federalist faction formed after US independence from British rule. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other influential opponents of the federalists, organized themselves into the Democrat-Republican Party. Founded in 1854, the Republican Party, which is the younger party, was set up by anti-slavery-expansion activists and modernizers. Abraham Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president, which is when the Republican Party rose to prominence.
While President Barack Obama defends his record during his term, Republicans have an agenda of their own. Let’s go back to the year 2008 when Obama first came into the White House. America was and still is recovering from the George W. Bush Administration’s catastrophic economic free fall. Itís believed that the Obama Administration diverted the nation from a Great Depression, reducing unemployment to the lowest rate in years. Democrats also favor increasing the minimum wage to help workers. Republicans oppose raising minimum wage because they said it hurt businesses. Democrats want high income individuals to pay taxes at a higher rate. Plus tax the wealth to pay for public programs. Republicans consider higher taxes on the rich is a form of class warfare.
Democrats and Republicans are relatively consistent when it comes to US Foreign Policy. But recently, the Obama Administration’s dealing with certain countries has been a concern. Israel and the US always had strong ties. But relations between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been tense. It has to do with the Obama Administration’s Iran Policy. The US tightened sanctions on Iran. Then a deal was negotiated that included International Inspections of Iranian Nuclear facilities. That allowed the US and Iran to work together against ISIS. Israel was not happy. The Republicans in Congress opposed the Iran deal or easing the sanctions against Iran. So they invited Netanyahu to speak out against the deal. US policy also was reversed by the Democratic Obama Administration for Cuba. Republican contenders Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have publicly opposed the normalization of relation with Cuba. Democrats tend to favor equal rights for gay and lesbian couples, including the right to get married and adopt children. Republicans argue that marriage should be between a man and a woman. So they don’t support gay marriage and are against them adopting children.
Most Democrats favor more gun control laws, oppose carrying concealed weapons in public places. Republicans oppose gun control laws and support the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) as well as the right to carry concealed weapons.
Now here are a few accomplishment the Obama Administration was able to get passed: (1.) the Affordable Healthcare Act reducing the numbers of Americans without health insurance (2.) pushing back Senators who didn’t support science on global warming and keeping up with countries like China on bringing down carbon emissions (3.) the issue of immigration, causing a sharp change in demographics of Red States
This November election, Republican candidates like frontrunner Donald Trump pledges if he becomes president of the United States, he’ll unravel Obama’s legacy. Unless Trump can offer a much better plan, then we might be looking back at 2008.
Photo: DonkeyHotey httpss://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/
License: httpss://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
