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Posted on 01/13/2003 12:39:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
HERE's a quick guide to some basic differences between Democrats and Republicans, according to my Democratic friends.
Democrats are for the little people in this country. Republicans are for the big and powerful.
Democrats care about such matters as the well-being of the nation's children and about old people who need prescription drugs.
Republicans think only of themselves. They don't give a darn about old folks or children.
Republicans are uncaring and greedy, and, after Trent Lott let the cat out of the bag recently, most likely racists.
Republicans are only interested in making more money.
Democrats embrace big government in order to help people. They like government and departments with the exceptions of the CIA, FBI and the Pentagon, which they loathe.
Republicans distrust all government even when receiving corporate welfare, with the exceptions of the Pentagon, CIA and FBI, which they love.
Republicans think government is too large, too intrusive and too costly. They wouldn't lose any sleep if the departments of Education and Energy got shrunk by Rick Moranis.
Democrats point out that they, too, pay taxes and are happy to do so in order to fund all the programs that help little people.
If the Treasury is to be robbed for tax cuts, as President Bush proposes, the cuts should be given to the little people, even if those little people haven't paid all that much in income taxes.
The "wealthy," people such as Bush's Oil Patch buddies, should not get any of the cuts and certainly not the most. It doesn't matter that they pay most of the income taxes. They have the money to do it.
Interestingly, Democrats make a big distinction between "wealthy" people and the "rich."
They hate "wealthy" people, the ones Bush is always giving tax cuts to. Being wealthy, the choice word of Democratic spinmeisters, implies a certain degree of culture and propriety, maybe a little snootiness. The wealthy are likely the type of people who know which fork to use in restaurants with cloth napkins.
Even worse, they may have inherited their money.
Democrats are not necessarily against all rich people. Rich people like Barbra Streisand, professional basketball players and actors such as Martin Sheen, every man's president, are OK.
Here are some other differences between Democrats and Republicans that are helpful to understand, although there are individual exceptions in both parties.
Democrats believe in socialism, even if they don't realize they do. They believe government exists to plan the economy and redistribute income, as in, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
Republicans hate socialism with a passion. They believe capitalism and free enterprise are key to individual freedom and liberty -- and the only real way to prosperity.
Democrats believe more rules and regulations are necessary to police private enterprise. How many Enrons can the nation tolerate?
Republicans want the government to leave people alone so they can create new innovations, businesses and jobs.
Democrats favor abortions and oppose capital punishment.
Republicans oppose abortions and favor capital punishment.
Democrats want marijuana legalized and tobacco banned.
Republicans oppose legalizing marijuana and believe in the right of individuals to smoke, even if they must be restricted to designated places.
Democrats oppose the private ownership of guns. Republicans say they have a right to own guns under the 2nd Amendment. Many are members of the National Rifle Association, an organization Democrats detest.
Republicans like SUVs, the bigger the better. If they can't get an SUV, they drive American-made Fords and Chevys. Democrats prefer BMWs, Mercedes, Lexuses and always sensible Volvos.
See how it is in this country? Strong opposing views on most topics. There are exceptions to such generalities, of course. Some Democrats believe in gun ownership, for example, and some Republicans support abortion.
But don't these differences make you wonder how we stay together as one nation? Somebody must be watching over us.
Coulter, an editorial writer, is a member of the Chronicle Editorial Board. (bill.coulter@chron.com)
The United States should do the same. While not as vast as Brazil's, the gap between the rich and the poor in the US is too wide - the widest among all the rich democracies.
According to World Bank data, the poorest 10 percent of Brazil's population receives just 1 percent of the country's total income, while the richest 10 percent receives almost half. In the US, the poorest 10 percent receives 1.8 percent of total income, while the richest 10 percent gets almost a third.
In no other rich democracy does the poorest 10 percent receive less than 2 percent of the total. (The average for rich countries is 2.9 percent.)
Don't leap to the conclusion that this extreme inequity in US income distribution reflects the policies of the Bush administration. The data are for a Clinton boom year - 1997.
In fact, Census Bureau data show a steady erosion of income inequity since the 1970s.
The Census Bureau estimates that in 2001, about 33 million Americans - 11.7 percent of the population and disproportionately African-American and Hispanic - lived below the poverty line. For a family of four, that meant an income of less than $18,000 per year, or $4,500 per capita.
At this level of affluence, the persistence of poverty for tens of millions of Americans is a national disgrace.***
My sin is that I am in the financial top 10 percent of the country - those making $100,000 or more - the 35 percent tax bracket, a member of the so-called rich. So it is much easier to paint a picture of me with black heart and ice in my veins, cake crumbs all about, as I grow fat on the backs of the downtrodden.
However, I feel no need to defend my position. Over the years I have worked hard and earned every dollar of the obscene wealth I am accused of hoarding.
What is different about my life and how I came to be here compared with those liberals so willing and anxious to separate me from my compensation?
I worked two jobs to put myself through college. While many my age were off to sporting events or dating or cooling off at swim parties on muggy August nights, I was working in a sweltering factory, assembling bicycles until 2 in the morning. I can't say for sure where the bleeding hearts were then, but they were not standing next to me night after night, sweating over that endless assembly line.***
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