By Allegra Kirkland
...In order to determine (click here) which cities are most conservative, researchers analyzed large-scale surveys that questioned residents of over 1,600 towns and cities about a range of policy areas, from education to healthcare. Study authors Chris Tausanovitch of UCLA and Christopher Warshaw of MIT created an ideological score for each city based on these responses. The final study looks at the 51 U.S. cities that have at least 250,000 residents....
The survey doesn't really surprise me. Being politically conservative is very different than living conservatively. The political tone of the USA has grown more and more right wing because the GOP has manufactured their own "moral high ground." No one lives there, but, their politics are there because it serves the purpose of that feel good feeling. This survey proves it.
Americans are mostly left of center, not right of center. I wish the Democrats would rally to that reality. The more right wing ideologies claim to be the higher ground of politics the more it will attract interest. The reality is very clear, right wing politics is anti-American. It demands no gay community, seeks to control every woman's uterus, believes education is unimportant, wants all government services privatized and wants to burden the USA with a general sales tax rather than income tax. They are crazy, no one other than political extremists carry those views.
The Democrats have always moved the country forward. Why is that not appreciated? The Democrats have never shouted NO YOU DIDN'T DO THAT REPUBLICANS!
President Kennedy saw the beginnings of the space program and now it is considered a Wall Street investment venue. The list of Democratic contributions to our country is very long, but, never are they credited with any of it once it is mainstream.
Social Security is always denigrated by the GOP, but, it also serves as the baseline economy for the USA. That is never appreciated by Republicans until the economy crashes, which always occurs under Republicans,
SSI, along with Medicare has given new meaning to retirement. Retirement is a very viable part of the service industry sector. Today, with so many Baby Boomers entering retirement they are demanding healthy lives that allow them a great deal of freedom. In that is an economic boom for many areas of the country. Our very health is impacted by the most senior in our country when they step out of stereotypes to recognize that life is good even in the age of 80 something.
Medicaid brought health care to the impoverished.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has changed healthcare for the better. People have enormous right to their records, in a new Patient Bill of Rights, to the point where hospitals are now allowing patients to access their personnel records online.
The ACA has saved tens of thousands of American lives with over 30 million finding health care insurance through the new exchanges.
An entire state, namely Kentucky, have made healthcare a priority. It is improving the lives of Kentuckians. How many were entrenched in poor health and unable to qualify for work?
The demand for healthcare jobs has not decreased due to the ACA. Hospitals have been receiving payment for services to finally balance their budgets. People can now be treated by a physician rather than seek care through emergency rooms across the country.
One might note the crying of Republicans in 2014 elections was about jobs and the ACA to the point where McConnell had to divide the idea Kentucky's health care insurance access, Kynect was far different from Obamacare. Americans are living a diluted reality.
The Democrats have always prioritized the needs of the Middle Class and Poor. Where would these people be if they were allowed to be disenfranchised, not only from voting, but from the priorities of their own government.
The list to the right is from a study conducted by Northwestern University and published in March 2013. It states the priorities of the wealthy as compared to the lack of importance of Middle Class and Poor to the same exact issues. The title of the study article "Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans," by Benjamin I. Paige, Larry M. Bartels and Jason Seawright. (click here) If the Democrats weren't at the forefront to carry the message of the Middle Class and Poor who then would? Certainly not Republicans, they disdain these people and while their strategy has turned towards the methods of local canvasing for political gain, the policies they carry are not at all beneficial to changing the peril of Americans born out of privilege. The Republican success lies within wealth and the allegiance of power to cronys. That is their standard bearer.
The study above was included in an article at "Demos, An Equal Say and An Equal Chance for All." The article is titled "Stacked Deck." (click here)
There is every indication and I won't get into it at the moment, the brave new world the Democrats so fervently embraced as their own waits around a corner. President Obama is overseeing some of the most incredible change both domestically and abroad, with allies and without; a change by Democrats in priorities in reaction to recent elections would be imprudent.
The problem with the 2014 elections is the vats of money spent by the RNC. The Democrats were out spent by $100 million dollars. The values the Democrats hold is correct. Those values are wise and necessary. What would be said about the Democrats if they were elected under faux ideals and then pivoted to the much needed change in the USA? The Democrats find the truth and decency too burdensome to have it as it's core?
The problem is having their electorate realize the truth of the message and the deception of advertising. The truth about the country is something no one can deny, personal attacks of opposition candidates has pitfalls. The issues are still the best way forward.
The next two years will prove interesting as to the priorities of the two parties and how committed each party is dedicated to the best outcomes of the entire country and not special interests. There is a truth and President Obama knows what it is. The Democrats need to trust the man they elected in 2008 and 2012 and stop second guessing the changes in dialogue the Republicans demand. They are the wrong message and they are wrong for the country.
The Democrats have two brilliant men within their ranks, namely Former President Bill Clinton and current President Barak Obama. What seems to be the problem? The truth? The message? The overwhelming qualifications of candidates? Or is it something far more destructive? Something like, deception of the electorate to win elections that never deliver for them. The message is still clear. Truth and justice still matter.
