How much difference is there between the Democratic and Republican parties?

Discuss.

We need an opposition party of 'We the People', because 'We the People' do not have much representation in WDC anymore.

that there is no difference.

If people actually believe that there is no real difference between the two, it's only because their vision is skewed by the amount of political distance in their perspective.

To those on the Far Right, everyone else not exactly like them looks like a Communist, for example.

There is no option for "large, significant differences in all policy areas".

The farther left or right you go,the more the middle looks left or right.

and that distance shrinks by the day but I'll grant that the Neobircher Teabaggers allow for greater differentiation but they are still on very similar courses that will arrive at depressingly similar destinations.

modern capitalist society. It is both sad and mind boggling how any mature adult can possibly not see that. However - equally obviously - there are levels of degrees. The Republican Party is absolutely insane, sociopathic and irresponsible about it. The Democratic Party has a little bit of noblesse oblige and is more grounded in the world of pragmatism and reality. The Republican Party represents the most depraved and decadent elements of capitalism. The Democratic Party represent the elements of capitalism that at least recognizes the need to appear to be more responsible.

A repuke member will cheer on the death of an inconvenient ill person. A Dem member wants to give everyone universal healthcare. A repuke believes Obama is crazy and going to take away his guns. A Dem is worried about all the crazy people with guns too close to Obama. Repukes cheer on the deathcount in the Texas penal system. Dems are outraged that their is a deathcount.

Is Whole Foods Wall St? Wall St used to mean just investment banking and trading.

Now it means all corporations - large, small, green, or Silicon Valley.

Opinions of individual members don't mean shit.

The differences of policy and legislation are what matters. Where's the difference in war de jour? Where the difference in the favor and deference show to the finance sector. Where's the difference in health care legislation which is a big fat gift to the insurance industry? Where's the difference in relation to the Palestinian people?

Where's the fuckin' difference?

nt

Ostensibly, both are in roughly the same demographic, the same profession, both can consider themselves artists successful at their chosen craft...one might argue both should therefore have similar political views as they have quite a great deal in common; a distant observer would only see variances to a small degree, but are in all actuality completely different in some very large ways.

Thanks to Third Way Laissez-Fail co-opting, there really isn't much to look forward to economically.

...here in Wisconsin, our Dems still stand for something.

When I was young I knew with some certainty what the Democratic and Republican Parties stood for. The difference was clear as day, the Republicans generally supported business interests (but not to the exclusion of their human constituents) and the status quo. Democrats supported individual liberty, a well regulated society where regulation existed to stop predation, and providing a helping hand where it was necessary without reguard to who was receiving it other than the recipient was in need.

And today I just don't know. Republicans aren't for anything, they are against everything. Democrats have two different views on everything and are too uncordinated to accomplish much of anything. And neither of them will do shit to fix obvious problems. Our infrastructure is failing and you would have to be blind not to see it and a mental vegetable not to understand the consequences for the country - but neither side does anything.

"entitlement programs" and offered up for sacrifice by Democrats, I am no longer certain what the Democratic party stands for.

That's a subtle difference but I believe the times are a changing and there is still hope for the Democratic Party to recapture its' title as the Party of the People; if we're willing to fight for it.

If we're not willing to fight, then creating or joining any other political party won't make a difference because it will become compromised as well.

Thanks for the thread, undeterred.

and thats enough for me.

social policy (same-sex marriage/civil partnership, don't ask/don't tell, gender and racial equality, the overall issue of civil rights), foreign policy and defence policy (the GOP favours a more unilateral approach, the Democratic Party prefers where possible to work in concert with America's allies to achieve common policy goals); on fiscal issues and the economy, there's also significant difference (find a Republican who wants to let the Bush tax cuts expire and raise capital gains taxes, or a Democrat who wants to eliminate the IRS in favour of a national sales tax or flat tax); on energy issues, the Republican response is "drill baby drill", the Democratic response is "invest in renewables, high speed rail and mass transit, and increase fuel economy standards"...really you have to be either wilfully ignorant or just plain stupid to think that there's no meaningful difference between the parties.