Do you believe that the Democratic Party through implementation of many of its s

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   Do you believe that the Democratic Party through implementation of many of its sociopolitical
   
   &socioeconomic policies have made America better or worse?  Why ? Why not?
   
   

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2. 68

   Perspycaciousposted 10 years ago

   You went over the word count on your question.  I can only presume that you were asking whether or not socio-economic policies enacted by Democrats have made the USA better or worse.
   If that is the question, it is too broad because it encompasses all such programs, some good, some weak or debilitating.
   I believe that social "safety nets" serve an essential social function, while many that get enacted only because they were promised in order to win votes, pose the threat of convincing some voters that all they have to do to get unlimited goodies is to vote for them.
   The question has to be asked "What is best for the country as a whole?", not what wins the votes that can be obtained by dividing Americans into special interest groups and then hooking the votes of each group by offering something that is only in the best interest of those individual groups at the expense of the USA as a whole..
   And that doesn't even touch the question of pork barrel projects that individual states or regions seek for their own special interests.
   Both Republicans and Democrats should be ashamed whenever they put the welfare of their party and their own constituents before the well-being of the nation.

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3. 72

   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   Most of the programs enacted during FDR's terms as president were designed to provide a "floor" for those at the bottom in order to maintain a certain level of living standards. Programs like Social Security, Minimum wage, Medicare/Medicaid, Unemployment, along with Pre-school, Planned Parenthood, Welfare & Food stamps are all well meaning.
   The debate has always been over how our taxpayer dollars are spent in addition to making people "dependent" on welfare/food stamp programs in particular.
   Some people consider (all money) given by the government to be welfare/entitlements including Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, unemployment and veterans benefits.
   Many of these benefits are now seen as "sacred cows". Funding these programs was not much of an issue as the next generation was able to support the elderly. In some ways Social Security is sort of a federal ponzi scheme that relied on new people coming into the system to pay SS taxes. However with the "baby boomers" the largest segment of the population approaching retirement age the concern is there are not enough younger people to support the system. There has been talk of raising the retirement age to 70 or allowing folks to invest their own money anyway they want . Nevertheless historically most people do not save for retirement. If such a system would have been in place during the "great recession" when the stock market went belly up and real estate came crashing down a lot of the elderly would not have gotten a monthly income and would have lost almost everything.
   I don't think that these programs have made America worse. Signing bad trade agreements, fighting two wars for over 10 years, and corporations shipping manufacturing jobs to places like China and customer support jobs to India have had more of an effect.
   According to Factcheck.org federal tax rates had fallen to their lowest rate in 30 years in 2012! Theoretically according to those that believe (lower taxes is the key) we should be having a great boon! Unemployment is below 6%, home loan interest rates are low, and the stock market is at record highs. And yet few people don't (feel) good about the economy. Reducing or eliminating programs from "The Great Deal" won't bring back manufacturing jobs.

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      teamrnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I read the same article: Rates declined, but those are HOUSEHOLD rates, not CORPORATE rate, and it is CORPORATE RATES which cause the jobs to move offshore. In 2011, the US CORPORATE rate: 40%! Hardly an all-time low. Use scrutiny with fact check.

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   2. 72

      dashingscorpioposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Most recent estimate comes from the World Bank Int'l Finance Commission, which put the United States’ (effective rate) for 2014 at 27.9 percent. Tax deductions for health insurance, pensions, & investment returns,reduce the pool of taxable profit

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4. 66

   Zelkiiroposted 10 years ago

   ITT: In which we discuss whether any of the movies released this month will be remembered as classics in 10 years based solely on a single viewing with no context and having just walked out of the theater.

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   1. 68

      Perspycaciousposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      What do movies have to do with this question?

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   2. 66

      Zelkiiroposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      They're both the same kind of question: trying to look at something temporal from the perspective of how it'll affect the future when you're still within it. Like saying "Horrible Bosses 2" will be a classic while just walking out of the theater.

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5. 0

   Nadia Ribaduposted 10 years ago

   Is this the full question?  It seems cut off, incomplete.  What are you trying to ask?

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   1. 0

      Nadia Ribaduposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      My bad!  I see the balance of the question!  Must think about the answer.

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