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Post by Jake on Apr 7, 2010 14:50:49 GMT -5
Being from the UK, I don't know too much about your political system. I mean, I know what's going on and all the basics, but what I want to know is the key differences between the two parties. For example, what they stand for, what policies they have and all that fun stuff! Preferably without being bias....
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Post by annazork on Apr 7, 2010 15:35:59 GMT -5
democrats are usually more liberal than republicans. they tend to go for large government plans and believe that the government should help those who are in poverty. democrats tend to back many controversial ideologies, such as Pro choice and gay marriage.
republicans are generally more conservative and want less government interference. they mostly prefer a capitalist government.
of course this isnt true for ALL democrats/republicans, just a common trend. I'm not a democrat or republican, i'm kinda somewhere in the middle.
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Post by Jake on Apr 10, 2010 9:37:43 GMT -5
Thanks annazork!
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Post by annazork on Apr 10, 2010 21:32:42 GMT -5
no prob!
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Post by jmejia1187 on Apr 12, 2010 11:21:16 GMT -5
Yeah, the basic idea is Republican = Small Government Democrat = Big government.
Most liberals are democrats and MOST conservatives are republicans, but it isn't always so. If you are between liberal and conservative, you are considered a moderate. And if you are between Democrat and Republican, you are considered an independent (like annazork).
We also have other parties, like the libertarian party, the newly created Tea Party (full of die hard gun bearing, stop taxing us, conservatives), the green party, and a slew of others who have their own ideas on how the government should be run. But again Democrats and republicans are the major 2 party's.
One last thing, usually, the political parties in america squabble over nonsense. For example, the republicans, now that Barack Obama is in charge, have taken it upon themselves to block just about EVERY bill that comes through the senate, such as the healthcare bill. The majority of them were against it, on false grounds, and do not negotiate in good faith. The democrats are also guilty of this, like when bush appointed his cabinet, many of them blocked the appointees from going through the process, and Bush had to get them in when congress was in recess through executive order.
This behavior gets nothing done, and ultimately leads to this kind of rhetoric:
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Post by Jake on Apr 13, 2010 7:42:57 GMT -5
And am I right in thinking this forum has more people supporting the Democrats than Republicans? I think I saw a poll saying something similar anyway.
Out of interest, which party is that Glenn Beck guy a supporter of?
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Post by Insane_Zang on Apr 13, 2010 11:33:38 GMT -5
Well, from my prospective, he's conservative, but from interviews, he admits he thinks both sides are idiots =P
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Post by anthonymhines on Apr 13, 2010 19:07:00 GMT -5
Glenn Beck is conservative/republican. As am I, though I'm fairly sure most of the people on the SPOTM are democratic. Including Dan, at one point said he was a democrat, though now I think he considers himself neither.
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Post by andrea1994barney on Apr 13, 2010 20:10:28 GMT -5
Glenn Beck is a Republican but even most republicans think he is and idiot, i not part of any party for I think it is stupid.
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Post by Jake on Apr 14, 2010 9:14:45 GMT -5
Including Dan, at one point said he was a democrat, though now I think he considers himself neither. Oh, really?! I haven't actually heard him talk about politics much recently...
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TheIslander
Planet
From a Land Surrounded by Sea.
Posts: 403
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Post by TheIslander on Apr 14, 2010 16:42:10 GMT -5
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priam
Meteorite
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Post by priam on Apr 14, 2010 18:40:23 GMT -5
I don't know anything about all this either because I am from New Zealand but it seems like the big gov. is needed for when there is a lot of money in the country but it is being uncontrolled and is mainly in the hands of few ppl so they have to interfere and spread it out on a biased standard. (which could be gud or bad). It seems like they were doing alright for a while but they were in there too long and failed because the risks seems to grow. so allowing the repbulicans to come in with their small goverment might help when the economy is expanding
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FranticProdigy
Planet
[AWD:1c]
Im classy because I use words like touch
Posts: 312
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Post by FranticProdigy on Apr 21, 2010 16:18:35 GMT -5
Democrats are known as liberals, and like to spend money for change. Republicans are known as conservatives, and don't like to spend money, and they don't get change. Democrats for the most part support abortion, gay rights, leaving Iraq. Republicans for the most part oppose abortion, have a hatred for gays, and want to fight in Iraq. THIS IS FOR THE MOST PART, NOT IN ALL CASES.
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FranticProdigy
Planet
[AWD:1c]
Im classy because I use words like touch
Posts: 312
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Post by FranticProdigy on Apr 21, 2010 16:19:31 GMT -5
Glenn beck is a 100% conservative asshole. Me personally, I belong to the tea party.
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Nakor
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Post by Nakor on Apr 21, 2010 16:30:19 GMT -5
Glenn Beck gives a bad name to the entire Republican party. He does make for great Jon Stewart satire though.
Conservatives also have a large religious conservative (fundamentalist) backing, which is why they're still opposed to gay marriage in an era where that shouldn't even be in question any more. Their fundamentalists also tend to give the rest of the party a bad name. Though a lot of them are now teabaggers instead.
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Post by Jake on Apr 22, 2010 11:59:06 GMT -5
I looked at the policies of the two and I looked up a lot about them, and I'm definitely sure I would vote Democrats if I were American and old enough. In fact, I'm more sure than who I would vote for here in the UK!
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Nakor
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Post by Nakor on Apr 22, 2010 15:33:35 GMT -5
^ That happens a lot. Canadians look at American politics the same way. Most of us can't figure out how the republicans get any seats at all lol.
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Post by Johncoyne on Apr 27, 2010 12:22:21 GMT -5
I would definitely take a look at TheIslander's post. I was just about to link you to that mahself.
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Post by Jake on Apr 27, 2010 16:10:16 GMT -5
I would definitely take a look at TheIslander's post. I was just about to link you to that mahself. I took a look and I'm doing the test now! I expect I'll come out more left seeing as I'm centre-left in England, and we are more left than in America anyway!
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Post by jmejia1187 on Apr 27, 2010 19:20:24 GMT -5
^ That happens a lot. Canadians look at American politics the same way. Most of us can't figure out how the republicans get any seats at all lol. The way republicans get many seats is on particular issues. Such as abortion. America has many christians who would never vote for someone who is pro choice. But this leads to people who are ultra religious, generally belonging to the republican party. For example, here are a bunch of republican candidates for president, in a debate, during last elections primary: Are you fucking kidding me? I WOULD NEVER WANT A PRESIDENT WHO DIDNT BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION. THIS IS LIKE ASKING FOR A PRESIDENT WHO DOESNT BELIEVE THAT COMPUTERS EXHIST, OR WHO CAN BARELY USE A CELL PHONE...
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