Republican-lite Dems
Today’s Democratic Party has distilled into Republican-lite. And it’s not tasting nice.
This party is no longer the party of anti-war, anti-Wall Street, pro-environment, pro-civil liberties leaders. In the past year alone, Democrats have supported giving Trump’s administration broad surveillance authorities, partnered with Republicans to unnecessarily bloat the defense budget by $80 billion, voted down Bernie Sanders’s big pharma bill to lower drug costs, and this past November, and again this March, they worked with Republicans for more bank deregulation.
Not only are these positions antithetical to the values of a party once for the people, they’re not working.
Thirty-two state legislatures are controlled by Republicans in both house and senate chambers. Thirty-three governorships across the country are in Republican hands. And the federal landscape? Ouch. The White House, both branches of Congress and the Supreme Court — all dominated by the right. These are facts and the Party must change. If it doesn’t, go ahead and change the name to match the mascot: the Jackass Party.
Did you know Bill Clinton partnered with the Koch brothers on the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) in the late 1980s to early 1990s? The goal of Bill and the Koch brothers? To make the Democratic Party more conservative for decades to come. Well, they have succeeded to the detriment of the country. Take a look at the Affordable Care Act — Dems controlled both legislative branches and the White House, yet they did not even make an attempt for universal healthcare and instead went with a conservative conceived plan involving the “individual mandate.” The party insiders would not even entertain the thought of single-payer.
These party insiders are also the same ones who argued just a few months ago against the DNC lawsuit brought by Bernie Sanders supporters that the DNC had the right to “go into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way.” Yes, this is your modern-day “Democratic” Party! The DNC is in debt, financially and morally.
Now is the time to reject this culture and the establishment politicians supporting it. Now is the time for the Democratic Party to return to the grassroots. Now is the time for a new brand of Democratic leadership in Washington.
And it starts here by voting for Mark Williams — the real progressive — for Colorado’s Second Congressional District.
Ryan Reeves/Boulder
The worst president
The Democratic Party is wasting far too much energy being distracted by Donald Trump. It is true that he is an unmitigated ass, an egomaniacal, sexist, racist, capitalist pig and serial, self-aggrandizing liar, essentially a revelation and manifestation of every dark aspect of America’s history and ethos. However, the jury is still out on whether he is a worse president than Richard Nixon, who actually was a crook, or George W. Bush, a naif in the thrall of the war-mongering Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and here we can add the amnesty-granting, debt-raising, tax-raising, Third World-invading President-Feel-Good-About-America Ronald Reagan, all of whom were elected twice.
We are a year and a quarter in and the economy and markets (we can still make a buck here) so far haven’t crashed, and Roseanne Barr, while not the President’s vision of the Ideal Woman, loves his brash demeanor. What can go wrong here?
What can go wrong is that while all eyes are on the Donald (which he loves), the Republican agenda of unregulated, corporate-dominated, small government America is being put into policy and law. Public safety and protection, in both the environment and the world of finance, is being compromised for the sake of greater profit for the already rich and powerful, somehow all in the name of a “forgotten America.” This is not a government of the People, it is one of, by, and for a wealthy elite. This should be the focus for the Democratic Party (and for all Americans), not Donald Trump.
Robert Porath/Boulder
Support our young people
What do DREAMers and high school students advocating for changes in gun laws have in common? They are both underrepresented groups, not yet able to vote, who are speaking out about the inaction of our elected officials. Our young people are tired of partisan politics and want to see solutions.
The League of Women Voters of Boulder County, a nonpartisan organization working for change in public policy through education and advocacy, applauds the efforts of our young people. We are encouraged that they are choosing to participate in democracy in an attempt to bring about positive changes in our nation.
We urge our elected officials to work together and find common ground on both of these issues.
The DREAMers have now been living in limbo for more than six months, which is unconscionable. Most Americans favor the DREAM Act, and it has bipartisan support in Congress. Yet party politics are standing in the way of a solution for hundreds of thousands of young people in our country. Time is up: find a way to pass the DREAM Act now.
Students have been living in fear of gun violence at their schools all of their lives (Columbine High School, 1999). Some children face gun violence on the streets of their neighborhoods on a daily basis. We support the right of citizens to bear arms under the Second Amendment, and we believe common sense rules are needed to protect our public safety. Strong federal measures must limit private citizen access to semi-automatic assault weapons and close loopholes in background checks.
We will do our job of registering to vote those high school students who turn 18. When will our elected officials do their job of passing legislation to protect our younger generation from gun violence in their schools and neighborhoods?
Peggy Leech/President, League of Women Voters of Boulder County
