I was proud to be a Conservative Democrat.

[dawg]

I believed in free enterprise, and that most needs were best met by the private sector. But I also believed in smart regulation and a strong safety net. I was a Conservative Democrat.

I was a little concerned about Dukakis being too far to the left, but I voted for him anyway.

Time went on. Things changed.

Clinton was elected President. He raised taxes on the wealthy and proved that modest tax hikes would not derail the economy. But he also passed welfare reform and NAFTA. He actually said, "The era of big government is over." Can you believe that shit? I needed to re-evaluate my positions. What did I believe now?

I believed in free enterprise, and that most needs were best met by the private sector. But I also believed in smart regulation and a strong safety net. I was a Middle-of-the-Road Democrat.

I thought Al Gore represented my views pretty well. I was proud to vote for him and proud that he won.

Time went on. Things changed.

Bush the lesser used a national tragedy to push a radical right-wing agenda. Huge tax cuts, tilted towards the wealthy, all of which were added to the national debt. Civil rights were eroded in the name of security. The media was complicit, and lies were either allowed to stand (Fox News) or else they were given equal footing with the truth in a "He Said - She Said" format (all other networks). The President's Press Secretary actually stood up and said people needed to watch what they said. I needed to re-evaluate what I believed.

I believed in free enterprise, and that most needs were best met by the private sector. But I also believed in smart regulation and a strong safety net. I was a Liberal Democrat.

Time went on. Things changed.

Help! It's 2008 and the economy is opening up like a gaping lava-filled portal to Hell! Bailouts! Stock market crashes! Massive layoffs! Collapse of the housing market. But there is good news. We won the election, and the new President is a progressive!

Fast forward a few years. We all know what is going on. There are two possible explanations. Some feel that the President has shifted to the center-right, is using right-wing frames and rhetoric, and has turned out to be big disappointment to the left. Others think he is using political strategy, doing the best for us that anyone could, considering the political realities of the day. Either way, we are screwed and screwed hard. Either our Democratic President is no longer with us, or else the country has moved so far to the right that he has no choice but to echo these frames and pursue these compromises. I repeat, either way we are screwed. So what do I believe now?

I believe in free enterprise, and that most needs are best met by the private sector. But I also believe in smart regulation and a strong safety net. I am a Fringe Leftist.

[polichick]

1. Things change. :)

[russspeakeasy]

45. Vote out corporate whores ? There would be about 4 people left.

[demwing]

70. And that would be a good start

do you disagree?

[russspeakeasy]

76. Agree 100 %..

[SaveAmerica]

83. Who are those 4? I don't think there are even that many. Our Rep who I thought would *never* ditch

us for corporate goodies has done just that. That's another thread 'has anyone ever gone to Washington a Mr. Smith and stayed that way'? I don't think they can. Not until the rules are changed.

[russspeakeasy]

85. I don't know who the 4 would be, it just sounded like the right number.

:argh:

[SaveAmerica]

90. I meant rhetorically, too. Any number is pretty much what I'm asking, is it even possible for there

to be one?

[russspeakeasy]

97. Good question..................

[Action]

84. Duped for 30 years

Interesting that some folks are waking up. Just think how things would be if they had been awake for the last 30 years when they thought they were voting for Guns, God & Gays.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Beautiful description of political drift in this country.

[Sherman A1]

69. Indeed

And I am proud to be a political lefty somewhere to the left of DK & Bernie Sanders.

[vi5]

3. Well said, and I'm the same way....

People on here have their head in the sand if they think that it's not a dire warning sign that folks like you and I are now considered radical and/or leftist.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I was never a conservative Dem. I watched Reagan start planning the demise of this country, and the

enrichment of the mega-wealthy and corporations. Dems began to fall in love with Reagan and the most corrupt, unsupervised capitalism, which is nothing but looting by the higher classes, and the trend was set for the next 31 years, with Republican ideology ruling, and many Dems agreeing.

My disappointment knows no bounds.

[polichick]

7. This is my story too - watching has been agony.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

28. :( I still don't quite understand Dems that liked and like Reagan. I swear I don't. nt

[Armstead]

25. Ditto -- We have seen a massive 30 year betrayal

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. Yes. A betrayal it was.

The biggest betrayal was not the right wingers. I had their number asap. It was Dems who fell in love with Reagan. I was literally SHOCKED at those Dems that liked that monster. I am still in shock when I hear a Dem speak kindly of Reagan, after all the damage he did and the ugly trend he started here. I'm flummoxed, really.

[SusanaMontana41]

67. Me, too. n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

5. K&R. Nope, Dawg, you still sound like a Conservative Democrat to me.

You believe in free enterprise (I take it you're against single-payer health care?), and that most needs are best met by the private sector (agreed - just as long as there's no monopolization), but you also believe in smart regulation (that will stop monopolization) and a strong safety net (labor rights, social security, medicare, medicaid, strong unemployment benefits, etc).

Yes, you still sound like a Conservative Democrat to me. :hi:

[dawg]

9. I think single-payer health insurance is a necessary part ...

of an adequate safety net. All the actual health-care providers would, of course, continue to be private-sector employees and entrepreneurs. :)

[JHB]

22. checks and balances, eliminating the middle-man...

The world used to correctly identify people who called that "socialist" as ranting loons.

But a couple of decades of propaganda wears on that a bit.

[creon]

99. Different world

I live in a different world; a very different political culture. I do not belong in the political culture that has been evolving since Reagan, if not Nixon.
I have not changed; I am as "liberal" or as "conservative" as I have ever been.

I will let others put me into a category.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. Well played

:applause:

[Cosmocat]

8. Look ....

first, I do agree with the post about this being a pretty decent depiction of the political drift of the country.

But, once again, I want to say that this president did not campaign as a fire breathing progressive/democrat. He campaigned on TONE and civility. None of this is some stealth right turn and it is not policital posturing either.

The man said he was going to be the adult in DC, and that is what he is doing. We know the Rs are snakes in the grass douchebags down there, but they still do represent the views of a lot of our fellow americans.

Also, he HAS been a good progressive in a lot of ways.

He could have done more in pushing the debate, but he probably did the best he could just to pass HCR. He got a MAJOR deal done with Wall Street reform. He took the heat and saved the american car industry.

He disappointed me greatly with extending the Bush tax cuts. I don't like that he is as tight as he is with big finance (and saw that during the campaign, frankly).

But, he is a tough, honorable and smart guy, and is pretty cool on top of it.

JFK is seen as a great democratic president, and he broke toward the republican side of things his share of times. Clinton was a darn good president, but he broke to the rs on things.

[immoderate]

16. I'm having trouble thinking of things Obama has done that are progressive.

Has he done anything that would reverse the wealth disparity that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer?

Or what do you think progressive means?

--imm

[Cosmocat]

40. Really?

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay
SCHIP
Mathew Sheppard/James Byrd Hate Protection Act
Increased Pell Grants
I know you will dismiss it, but HCR - by a hair and the first president nearly a half century to do any kind of reform to health care in this county
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal
Bailed out the american care industry
Wall Street Reform

[Divernan]

81. "Bailed out the american care industry"???Yup! Big Health Insurance, Big Pharma

[Cosmocat]

95. Yeah ...

I don't like that it is mandated private insurance for sure.

But, he didn't write the bill, and again, he most assuredly was not going to veto universal coverage if it hit his desk.

It got done, something most of us have not seen in our lives.

Even at that - people can no longer be excluded for pre-existing conditions, children can be on parents coverage until 27 ...

NOT PERFECT, but a step ...

[immoderate]

100. Like I said, he never imposes on the rich. Money only goes one way.

Oh, he's playing 11 dimension chess alright, but it's about how to let Republicans loot the country, while maintining a progressive voting base. At this he is a master.

Every once in a while, something nice for the GLBT.

[Bandit]

17. The President campaigned on doing right by the country.

Allowing Republican policies to stand is not doing right by the country. Allowing the Bush* Tax cuts to be renewed is not doing right by the country. Allowing the Bush* "Wars" to continue and in at least one instance, to expand is not doing right by the country. Allowing Defense Spending to increase while all other Social Spending decreases is not doing right by the country. Allowing the Insurance Industry to maintain it's choke hold on our Health Care System is not doing right by the country. I could actually go on and on but I think you get the drift...

[seabeyond]

10. i have a tough time placing me, too. just clear things that hurt the country. NAFTA

really did it for me, too. and lowering taxes and subsidies for corps. i think there has to be a middle road NO ONE is traveling.

[dawg]

36. I believe in free trade agreements so long as they are symmetrical.

When NAFTA was passed, the Mexican economy was in no way comparable to that of the U.S. Give us a few more years, though .... :(

[disillusioned73]

11. k&r..

the world shifted under my feet as well.

[BeFree]

12. Do you believe in

Public roads? Public education? Public defense? Public welfare?

Cause if you do, then you see that 'private enterprise' is nothing but still suckling at the teat of all that public socialism and would die if left to its own defense.

People need to quit waffling and understand that the United States does NOT mean Individual.

[dawg]

14. Of course I support those things.

While I believe most goods and services are best provided by the private sector, some things, such as the public goods you mention, are best provided by government.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, that wasn't considered a socialistic point of view.

[BeFree]

15. And now you are a socialist?

Velcome, comrade, Dawg! <grin>

[dawg]

37. That is what my neighbors would say.

:evilgrin:

[KoKo]

13. Great Post....I understand where you're coming from..

:kick:

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Welcome to the Left... here in the fringe

oh well

[librechik]

19. very well put

and too true

[JHB]

20. K&R +10

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, dawg.:thumbsup:

[Armstead]

23. Highly Rec -- It sucks when the political spectrum is allowed to move so far right.....

...With the active complicity of the leaders of the party who supposedly represent the other half of the spectrum.

[Trey9007]

24. Great post.....

I know how you feel.

[trotsky]

26. Conservative Democrat?

Hell, you would have been a Republican in 1956.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838

That shows just how much to the extreme far right they've succeeded in shifting the entire American political spectrum. There is not a Republican in office today who would sign onto their party platform of just 55 years ago.

[Taverner]

29. Back when you were a Conservative Democrat, it didn't mean 'Republican lite'

These days it simply means 'Pro-choice Republican'

[Shagbark Hickory]

30. +! Good read.

[ItNerd4life]

31. You aren't fringe left, the spectrum has NOT shifted to the right.

It just a tale Democrats tell their children to scare them. Here's some examples, not rhetoric.

TSA used to be private, now it's run by the government. Why? It didn't improve security one bit. Supporting government workers to take
over jobs that the private sector can do, is fringe left.

Allowing the marketplace to function, with government oversight is exactly what I believe in.

Fringe left: All schools must be government run.
Conservative Democrat: Why not allow private schools and charter schools try to compete and see what works best? (like Europe)

Fringe left: Healthcare must be government run.
Conservative Democrat: Healthcare provided by marketplace, but rules put in place to keep costs down. Government pays for healthcare, but people can get pay out of their own pockets to get better healthcare. (Like France)

Fringe left: Cuba is the model for medicine because it's free.
Conservative Democrat: Cuba has no modern facilities, Cuba is a joke.

Fringe left: We should never have gone into Afghanistan.
Conservative Democrat: We should never have gone into Iraq. Afghanistan was justified because they were the ones that allowed terrorists to attack us. (how the war was actually waged is a different argument)

Fringe Left: Taxes on the wealthy should be raised back to the 90% like they were.
Conservative Democrat: 30 years of supply side economics has only helped the wealthy. Need to create an 'income building' program similar to 'wealth building' programs like 401k. Programs that actually work
to improve the incomes of low/middle income people. This will drive demand side economics and actually help build the country. Raising taxes to 90% doesn't solve the root cause of the problem.

Don't believe you are fringe, you're beliefs are very much in tune with many people in this country, yes even Conservatives.

[onpatrol98]

56. So true...

Much of what you've posted is what most Americans believe before our political parties have us yelling at each other while they steal us blind. Rich politicians make fools of us. Then while we bicker with and against other poor people, they ride off in luxury jets while the commoners fight over crumbs while name calling.

[MadMaddie]

32. President Obama is not pushing for deregulation

I would love to see people admit that what is going on in this country is blatent Racism against a Black President.

No one can really give him credit for any of his accomplishments ever.

Has he failed in some area's, absolutely....

If you want a Supreme court of 7 to 2 have at it. I am gonna stay and fight this Right Wing Propaganda bullshit.

[dawg]

34. De-regulation has already happened.

I consider financial deregulation, coupled with the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce regulations still on the books, to be the major cause of the financial collapse.

There is right wing propaganda coming at us from all sides now.

[MadMaddie]

35. We were sold out by Clinton on financial deregulation

with the Glass-Steagall act President Obama with Elizabeth Warren are tyring to fix this...they are fighting tooth and nail...

[dawg]

38. Not to pick a fight with someone I mostly agree with, but ...

it would've been nice if the President could have at least nominated Elizabeth Warren to head the commission she helped to inspire. From what I have read, she sounds majorly pissed. (That's just my impression. I could be misinformed. It happens. :))


P.S. I don't mean to sound like I'm going easy on President Clinton in this. He did a lot of good (as has President Obama) but he caused a lot of damage too.

[MadMaddie]

43. I think we agree on most everything

The thing about Elizabeth Warren is that if she still wants to teach she has to go back to the University, I think she could lose her postion.

With the Republicans blocking everything her nomination would never have come up to get voted on, I don't think the problem was President Obama not wanting to submit her name. He still has judge nominations just sitting there because the Repugs won't vote on them.

[Auntie Bush]

54. Me too. There is no way I wouldn't vote for Obama. A

7 to 2 SC scares the hell out of me and it should scare the hell out of EVERY Democrat...no, almost every American. Take a look at Rethug Walker and what he's doing. Can you imagine having his policies all over the US and a SC who votes for things like Citizens United and tries to get rid of all abortion rights?

With those possibilities...how could you
dislike Obama so much as not to vote, donate or work on his behalf? No wonder Democrats lose. If so many disenfranchised Democrats hadn't stayed home instead of voting...we wouldn't have all the crack pots in office now and these debt cutting problems. Can't we learn by our mistakes?

[grahamhgreen]

61. He does want to make it easier to have more Fukushima's!

[demodonkey]

33. Kick, and happy to be Rec #60. nt

[socialist_n_TN]

39. Yes this is a good OP illustrating the "drift"

to the right in this country. And as another poster said, when I was a kid you would have been a Republican. :)

What I DO quibble with is the statement about the country having shifted so for to the right that Obama has no choice, but to echo the framing.

THE COUNTRY HAS NOT SHIFTED RIGHTWARD. If anything it has shifted LEFTWARD. Just look at the HUGE majorities that support "leftish" positions. Let me repeat that. HUGE MAJORITIES SUPPORT LEFTISH POSITIONS. Even to the left of where you are now. What has shifted is the LEADERSHIP of the political parties. THEY WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS NEW SILENT MAJORITY.

That's why they're making a revolution (or at least severe domestic upheaval) inevitable. Huge majorities without representation. That's a DANGEROUS road to take.

[stklurker]

41. huge majority..

I dont see the huge majority you are referring to... if there was we wouldnt be in this mess

[dawg]

42. I think a large majority opposes reductions in Social Security or ...

Medicare benefits. At least, they oppose cuts until the Republicans tell them to be *for* the cuts. It amazes me, the degree to which voters can change their opinions in order to match those of the "team" they identify with.

[socialist_n_TN]

44. Not only that, something like 80% of the general

public supports raising taxes on high earners. bvar always has that Rachel Maddow vidcap showing her in front of all those "leftish" positions.

[OmahaBlueDog]

46. Do you ever find that other Dems find your views close to Reagan's, while Republicans...

...compare your views to those of Mao and Stalin?

[A Simple Game]

47. When I think of what should be public and what should be private, I think of

needs and wants.

Most basic needs, water, air, food, heat,electricity, health care, etc., I believe should be public. I don't even like tightly regulated private utilities that play the ask for twice the increase we want and settle for 1 1/2 of what we want. For food I believe that all food could be grown privately, but the main staples should be managed publicly. I believe in a living wage. Energy should be publicly held for national defense and heating fuel as a necessity. There should be no for profit water companies. Public transportation where needed and wanted.

Most other things could be private, and in most cases regulated.

My reasoning is this, I help pay for low income people, old people, disabled people, government employees at all levels(federal, state, local), and military health care. I also help pay for low income people, and old people's utilities and food, and in many cases some transportation.

None of this do I mind. But my point is that we are already close to half way there, why not go all the way and let everyone lose all of the stress worrying about the necessities.

[JDPriestly]

48. Standing ovation, Dawg. I'm with you.

I believe in free enterprise, and that most needs are best met by the private sector. But I also believe in smart regulation and a strong safety net.

I used to be a moderate Democrat. I haven't changed my views, but miraculously, I am now a fringe leftist -- along with a lot of other people.

I was a Kerry supporter before I was an Edwards supporter. And I was an Edwards supporter before I was an Obama supporter. And none of them fulfilled my expectations.

Kerry did not challenge an unfair election.

Edwards was unfaithful to his wife (the least relevant mistake of the three men).

Obama -- oh, well. What a let-down.

[robinlynne]

49. FANTASTIC OP. Really. Really. Really.

[demwing]

50. I no longer believe in free enterprise

it's false advertising. There's nothing free about it.

Basic permission to conduct business costs money, and any attempt at creating a fair field on which to compete costs even more.

The only thing free about Free Enterprise is the insistence that big business remain free from government regulation, in which case there's nothing "good" about free enterprise either.

It's true that most of my needs are met by the public sector, but only for a price, and that price is met by engaging in a system that I find ethically dead. To get currency I have to earn it,steal it, or borrow it. To earn it, I have to have a job, but none of the enterprises in the free enterprise system are hiring. if I have a job, I have to keep it, which means I have to makes decisions that negatively effect the lives of others.

If I steal it, I better be damed slick, or have a friend in the government, or I'll end up in jail, working for free. If I borrow it I have to have good credit (hard to maintain without a job) or I'll pay out of the ass in high interest rates, go into debt, and get stuck in this cycle for the rest of my life. "Basic needs" just suffered a major revision in definition.

Nothing about this system really works in MY interest, and nothing about it is free. The whole damn system is built on an unsustainable need for growth. It is all one enormous Ponzi Scheme, and folks like me are always at or near the bottom of the pyramid. So I no longer believe in the free enterprise system, because it never believed in Democracy. Capitalism is, by nature, non-Democratic.

And yet, the Democratic party constantly pushes consumerism and capitalism!

This is beyond odd. I find I am having to choose between the political path I have followed all my life, and the socio-economic path that both my heart and my head have told me are the right things to do ethically. The two paths didn't use to be very far apart, but they are now. So while I no longer believe in the free enterprise system, I also find that I no longer have a clear understanding of what it means to be a Democrat in America. That is a sad, sad thing...

Something is broken, and I don't believe that my vote, or my boycott will change anything. I fear that the corner we are being wedged into will get tighter and less comfortable, and those in this corner will grow increasing less accepting of its conditions.

I believe the only way out is through massive civil disobedience. We can't follow the consumer model for correcting this problem, because the problem IS consumerism. Something is broken, and something else will have to break before we can get the tools togethr to build a better model for the future.

We are civilians, not consumers, so we must seek civilian methods, even if those methods are less than civil.

[TheKentuckian]

52. Fantastic

[seeker4ever]

58. +1

[canoeist52]

80. Thank you, demwing. Exactly where I am too.

[Bryn]

51. Kick

:hi:

[blkmusclmachine]

53. Give it another 10 years, and this Country will be unrecognizable.

n/t

[Blasphemer]

55. K&R

That was one of the best OPs that has ever been posted here and it really cuts out the bullshit and gets to the heart of our current national debate. Bravo!

[NinetySix]

57. This is among the best posts I've ever seen around here.

No Text, except kudos.

[Jim_Shorts]

59. Question is dawg, what comes after Fringe Leftist ..lol

I completely relate and could state a similar chronology.

Someone on here posted a study some college did (wish I wrote it down) that came to the conclusion that our politicians are definitely not fighting for our interests. Democrats and Repugs are both representing big money.

I see one way out of this : If the supreme court ruled for publicly financed elections, maybe we could turn this ship around but I am not holding my breath for that to happen. I think we are spinning faster and faster down the drain and I hope we start to organize somewhere.

[canoeist52]

82. "what comes after Fringe Leftist"? -Enemy of the State?

[grahamhgreen]

60. Fantastic!

[a2liberal]

62. K&R (n/t)

[WillyT]

63. Most Excellent !!! - K & R !!!

:bounce:

:hi:

:kick:

[FourScore]

64. Wow dawg! That is the best thing I've read all day! n/t

[loyalsister]

65. I keep reading about the good old liberal days

as if FDR or LBJ were recent. I am 40 yrs old and a Democratic president or even a serious presidential candidate who meets the stated criteria of being a "true Democrat" has not existed.

[Waiting For Everyman]

66. (I used to care but) Things Have Changed

Sorry, this just had to be done...

Bob Dylan, from the movie "Wonder Boys".

http://youtu.be/L9EKqQWPjyo

A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train

Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I’m expecting all hell to break loose

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

This place ain’t doing me any good
I’m in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood
Just for a second there I thought I saw something move
Gonna take dancing lessons, do the jitterbug rag
Ain’t no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag
Only a fool in here would think he’s got anything to prove

Lot of water under the bridge, lot of other stuff too
Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can’t win with a losing hand

Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheelbarrow and wheeling her down the street

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I hurt easy, I just don’t show it
You can hurt someone and not even know it
The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity
Gonna get low down, gonna fly high
All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie
I’m in love with a woman who don’t even appeal to me

Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake
I’m not that eager to make a mistake

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

(Copyright © 1999 by Special Rider Music)

[rpannier]

68. My Aunt (a lifelong Republican) said last spring

30 years ago I was a conservative Republican.
Today I'm a liberal and have little in common with either party.

[paulkienitz]

71. I'm gonna send this to my parents

My mom constantly sends me assorted glurge, a la the examples in Weird Al's song "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me", so I figure I can fight back with this. With any luck it'll spread all over the net with errors and distortions, and get misattributed to someone famous but inappropriate.

[ThomThom]

72. the country has not moved far right, but most of the left

gave up long ago. I contend that if everyone voted the left would win every time. And win big.

[tomp]

73. nothing has changed. you just caught on (a little).

your plan failed. the "liberal" strategy failed.

learn the lesson: believe in free enterprise if you want (i think it's stupid but that's just me). but if you want a strong regulation and safety net you have to get radical (really, radical) because the big boys don't want that, and they play real harball, real dirty, and the democratic party and liberals over the last century have helped them. this much SHOULD be obvioius. amazing it's not to so many.

[creon]

74. So am I

I am a conservative Democrat because my views agree with yours.

I am no fringe leftist. I am not a marxist, nor an anarchist, nor a Trotskyist.

[Somawas]

75. Hard to imagine that many of us are now "Loony Left" because we remain Democrats.

[southernyankeebelle]

77. It's funny how a person can move to be a liberal when it comes to their pocketbooks. I was always

a liberal. When your living in a lower middle america you see clearly who is getting screwed. We are living but the working poor are treading water. What many are experiencing has been going on with the lower middle income and working poor ever since Bush took office. We just never thought we'd be screwed by our own president and party. Who do we have to really speak for us. We have no money. We work long hours for minimum wage jobs. Republicans call this exceptionalism. I call it shafting the working people. They get rich off the backs of the working poor. How very sad our country is going back in time.

[PhoenixAbove]

78. Don't feel bad somehow...

I turned into a socialist. Still trying to figure that out as I used to consider myself a center democrat. Maybe I was delusional. :sarcasm:

[mwooldri]

79. Does this mean I am now a Socialist???

:hide:

There's this Christian hymn that I sung at school as a child... this was back in England, and there is no religion/government separation there.

It was called "When I needed a neighbour".

Questions posed like "when I'm hungry and thirsty", "cold and naked", "needing a shelter", "needing a healer" ... were you there? Of course, "the creed and the colour and the name won't matter".

Ironically this one hymn sums up a lot of my political and religious beliefs.

I *am* a Church of England aligned Christian. I *was* a card carrying member of the Liberal Democrats (moving outside UK made me ineligible). There is a need for government to be there for those who are hungry and thirsty, cold and naked, needing shelter, needing a healer - because I don't think anyone else will provide it.

Yep, America has moved to the right.

[Progressive dog]

86. Exactly

Same here except farther fringe.

[BlueJac]

87. There is no such thing as a conservative Democrat.......

that is an oxymoron, conservatives are republicans. You can't have it both ways and nobody will let you. Free enterprise with regulations is a pipe dream, will never happen. Strong safety net is not allowed under conservative thinking. I totally understand what has happened to the Democratic Party, people ran away from the word Liberal.

This line " I believe in free enterprise, and that most needs are best met by the private sector." is so Republican you must be a real conservative Republican. The other Republicans are out past the foul pole in right field.

[BridgeTheGap]

88. Free enterprise? Isn't that a fairy tale? Otherwise, I hear you loud and strong! n.t

[harun]

89. People think the politicians are bouncing back and forth between

right and left. When they are really only doing as little as their constituents want and still get re-elected, the rest they do is for their real masters. The big money donations from the big Corporations.

When you have a two party system and both candidates are competing for the big money, you get the same agenda, it's just packaged with different wrapping paper. And it keeps going farther and farther the way the big Corporations want. It doesn't have anything to do with Right or Left. It has to do with $$$ and power.

[INdemo]

92. Reason enough for term limits

Term limits would break the strangle hold of corporate control and then we might begin to look more like a Democracy again.

[harun]

94. I don't think so. They leave their short term having performed well

for the Big Corporations then they go work in Lobbying firms to make even more money.

We need a Constitutional amendment stating:

Congress is hereby authorized to pass law such as to maintain a Separation of Corporations and State.

Corporations are not people and do not have the rights of individuals.

Campaign donations are not free speech and can be regulated as such.

[valerief]

91. Super excellent, though super depressing, post. nt

[Bozita]

93. If Thom Hartmann sees Dawg's OP, I bet he'd read it on the air ... word for word!

[avebury]

96. I used to be a pretty conservative Republican BUT

having moved to the Bible belt and seeing what has happened over the last decade or do I lean pretty far to the left now. My siblings (living in Maine and Illinois are still Republicans but I think my move has a lot to do with moving to an ultra conservative state with far right wing politics. I think I recognize more of what is going on then my siblings because I get a double dose of tea party/republican extremism.

[hifiguy]

98. Private enterprise works for providing things that are not

commodities, but even commodities which are by their nature tend to monopolistic/oligopolistic supply - think telecommunications/electricity/energy - need to be regulated strictly to avoid manipulation, excessive speculation and monopolistic/oligopolistic price fixing/gouging.

Applying "market" approaches to things for which there are no actual markets - think health care - is a recipe for complete and utter disaster.

Big business is by the far greater enemy of small business than is the government.

Check out James Galbraith's "The Predator State." It is a most informative and eye-opening read. And a good one.