Are the Two Parties Alike?

I often hear it argued that there is no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties.  I disagree.  Now, I readily admit that the Democratic Party is a vile swamp that needs to be drained.  However, that swamp does have a few flowers, the good qualities that set it apart.  So before we drain that Democratic swamp, we first need to clean out the Republican alligators, whose vicious tendencies make them far more dangerous.  Christine Pelosi offers one critical difference between the two:

On the 75th birthday of Social Security, the American people got a choice from the two parties: Democrats resolved to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while Tea Party Republicans urged an end to these vital programs as we know them.

From speeches to rallies from sea to shining sea Democrats seized this moment to celebrate inter-generational compacts that secure our commitment to each other. I believe that Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid are as all-American as motherhood, baseball, and chocolate cake, so it was with pride that I stood this weekend at our Democratic National Committee meeting with my baby in one hand and policy paperwork in the other to argue for a resolution urging the President’s Fiscal Commission on the Deficit to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid Benefits. The DNC resolution, led by retired steelworker and veteran Robert "Big Red" Rankin, placed a marker down on the side of dignity and security for America’s working families by protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The full text of the DNC resolution is:

• Resolution Urging the Fiscal Deficit Commission to Protect the Critical Benefits Provided by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as They Conduct Their Important Work to Reduce the Deficit
• WHEREAS, President Obama, by Executive Order in February 2010, created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Commission) and the Executive Order directs the commission to reduce the annual deficits to 3% of the national economy by 2015; and
• WHEREAS, we fully support the President on the critical need to reduce the nation’s budget deficit; and
• WHEREAS, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), most of the projected budget deficit over the next ten years results from President Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans and the effects of the worst recession since the Great depression; and
• WHEREAS, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are three of the most successful federal programs in existence; Social Security has helped generations of Americans retire with dignity, has a $2.5 trillion surplus and has never contributed to the federal deficit; Medicare has helped reduce poverty among seniors by two-thirds since its inception in 1965; and Medicaid provides essential care for millions of Americans;
• THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic National Committee recommend that the Commission do everything possible to protect the important programs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

At the same time that Democrats were protecting Social Security, Tea Party Republicans led by Dick Armey were out to privatize it. Indeed, no sooner had I arrived home from the DNC meeting than I tuned in to the Tea Party maven go on MEET THE PRESS where Armey urged Republicans to have the "courage" http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0810/Armey_GOP_needs_courage.html?showall to co-sign the Paul Ryan Roadmap to privatize Social Security, voucherize Medicare, and block grant Medicaid.

You remember the Ryan Roadmap, right? That’s the top House Budget Committee Republican repeating the same privatization path that was proposed by President Bush and soundly rejected by the American people in 2005. http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=8521

You would think after all the complaints about Wall Street recklessness causing Main Street pain that privatizing Social Security would be off the table – but you would be wrong.

So the next time someone asks you about the difference between the parties, just remind them that when Social Security turned 75, Democrats celebrated while Tea Party Republicans grabbed the ax… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

The only thing Christine Pelosi said, with which I disagree, is that her association of these policies with the Tea Party Republicans.  They predate and supersede Teabuggery.  They are what Republicans want to do.  The reason for privitizing Social Security is to allow Banksters to convert the $2+ trillion trust account go executive bonuses.  The reason for voucherizing  Medicare and block granting Medicaid is to convert what is now going to benefits into insurance industry profits.  Republicans will not rest until they have ripped every last penny from the poor and middle classes to give to the super rich.

That’s one major difference.