What Does It Mean To Be A Democrat?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A DEMOCRAT?

            The Democratic Party is comprised of a large number of people of diverse origins, attitudes, and philosophies.  By design and tradition, it encompasses a very big tent.  As a result, it is difficult to summarize effectively what Democrats stand for.  The truth is that Democrats stand for a multiplicity of causes and political philosophies.

            In attempting to define the essence of the Democratic Party, it is reasonable to say that many of the beliefs that Democrats hold dearly are embodied in those ringing phrases in the first part of the Declaration of Independence.  “We hold these truths to self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

            Certainly, Democrats have proven to be the great champions of the concept that “all men are created equal”.  The dramatic advances that minorities, women, and gays have made in being treated as equals before the law have been strongly supported by the great majority of Democrats. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were initiated and signed into law by a Democratic President, Lyndon Johnson, and supported by a Democratic majority in congress.  The long battle for equal rights for women has been actively supported by the Democratic Party and its members.  The recent removal of restrictions on gay marriage and civil unions and discrimination against gays in the military has been largely initiated by Democrats.  First and foremost, Democrats believe in equal treatment before the law.  Democrats believe that without equal treatment there will be no liberty of the type envisioned in the Declaration of Independence.

           

            Democrats also believe that, in addition to legal equality, we must have reasonable equality of economic conditions.  The Democratic Party created programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to provide some measure of basic security for all members of our society.  As Democrats, we generally believe that a true democracy cannot survive and prosper unless every citizen has a realistic opportunity to have a roof over their heads, adequate food, and access to medical care.  Democrats believe that there can be no real “pursuit of happiness” for a large element of our society unless we reach out to take care of our least advantaged citizens.

            Most Democrats possess a healthy dose of skepticism for the ability of our free market system to equitably distribute the benefits of our economy to all stratas of our society.  We, therefore, believe that one of the legitimate roles of any government is to attempt to provide basic levels of support for the average wage earner, and especially for the poor, the old, and the disabled.  Most Democrats believe strongly that “we are our brother’s keeper”.

            These views are in direct contrast to the philosophy of most Republicans who contend that every individual is responsible only for themselves and that government has no legitimate role in attempting to reduce the economic disparities inherently created by a largely unregulated free market economy.

            Ultimately, these contrasting values can be reduced to one of compassion for their fellow man by Democrats and the reliance by Republicans on individual responsibility and the glorious benefits bestowed upon us by an unrestrained free market. 

George Dillingham

Democratic Party Chairman – Washington County, Texas

Published by Roger Sessions on behalf of George Dillingham

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The Decline of the Middle Class Income

Since 1980 when the Reagan Administration moved into Washington and instituted what Reaganites described as trickle down supply side economics, there has been a dramatic change in the relative prosperity of the middle class and the small group of very wealthy individuals who have been the primary beneficiaries of Republican economic policies. The statistics listed here clearly indicate that very little of the fruits of the economic expansion have “trickled down” to the middle class. From 1980 to the present, the fortunes of the wealthiest 1% of American have grown dramatically in both assets and income to a point that has been unmatched in this country since the age of the robber barons in the early 1900’s.

• Over the 25 year period from 1980 to 2005 the median family income has increased by 18 percent. During the same period the income of this country’s wealthiest individuals has gone up 200 per cent. The financial magazine, The Economist, reports that in the United States “the gap between rich and poor is bigger than in any other advanced country.
• In 1980 the income of the average CEO of an American Corporation was forty-two times the average blue collar worker’s pay. Twenty-five years later the average CEO’s compensation had climbed astronomically to 431 times the average worker’s pay.
• CEO compensation increased 340 percent from 1992 to 2002, while the average employee’s pay increased only 36 percent, barely enough to keep up with inflation.
• Lee Raymond, the former chairman of Exxon/Mobil, in testimony before congress declared that “we are all in this together, all over the world,” and that the drastic increase in the price of oil was due purely to supply and demand forces. We would all like be in it together with Mr. Raymond whose compensation during his tenure as chairman of Exxon/Mobil worked out to be $144,573 per day. It is fair to ask what concern does someone who is making $143,573 per day have for the severe economic problems of the average citizen that escalating oil prices have created. The Lee Raymond’s of this country are the chief beneficiaries of rising oil prices, accumulating vast wealth while the rest of humanity suffers.
• During the first five years of the 21st century, it is estimated that the United States lost more than three million manufacturing jobs. Much of this loss was attributable to misguided “free trade” policies and agreements such as NAFTA that were supported by our government. In addition, many high paying jobs were outsourced to foreign countries such as India and China where large multi-national corporations could exploit cheap labor at the expense of the American worker.
• According to the Pew Research Center, 59 % of workers polled believe that it’s harder to earn a decent living today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Despite claims by big business and Wall Street concerning the benefits of globalization and unrestricted free trade, American workers can recognize the reality on main street of a rapidly declining standard of living for the average citizen.
• Economist Emmanuel Saez of the University of California calculated that, even excluding capital gains, that 75% of the pre tax income growth in the so-called Bush expansion (2002-2006) went to the richest 1% of American families versus only 46% in the Clinton expansion (1993-2000). Clearly Republican economic and tax policies have had the effect of enhancing the income of the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the shrinking middle class.
• Texas multi-millionaire Bernard Rapoport recently commented “I certainly don’t think that there is anything wrong in making money the right way. But when 1 percent of the population has more assets than the bottom 99 percent in a country of almost 300 million people – this means that 30,000 so-called capitalists have more combined wealth than the bottom 100 million people in these United States – there’s something wrong!”
• Since 1979 real inflation adjusted hourly wages for most workers have increased by only 1% during a period when the average worker’s productivity increased 60%.

It is obvious that the long term trend for the economic well being of the average American family is in serious decline. The Democratic Party is sensitive to the severe financial squeeze that the middle class is experiencing. We do not believe that this is a nation of “whiners” as ex Republican Senator, Phil Gramm, recently claimed. We believe that the Bush tax cuts which primarily benefit the wealthiest segment of our society need to be eliminated and replaced with a tax plan that benefits the beleaguered middle class. So called “free trade” agreements that eliminate and export good high paying jobs in this country need to be reevaluated. Our trade laws and tax policies need to discourage and penalize mult-national corporations who outsource jobs to low paying third world countries. Average Americans should finally begin to realize that their best interests are not served by the Republican party. We need to wake up now before it is too late to save our rapidly disappearing middle class.