Dreamers of a 'left Democratic Party' (was The most dangerous sect...)

[Max Sawicky]

>
> Jim heartfield writes:
>
> Political fation fighting in the government
> > is entirely of a personal nature, there are no discenrible political
> > differences between any members of Blair's cabinet, only petty back-
> > biting over the spolis of office.
>
> The 1810s in U.S. history are know as the "era of good feeling" because
> there were no issues at stake in electoral politics (the Federalists had
> collapsed), and I understand that for personal attacks and ill feeling no
> period in our history matched that "era of good feeling." We are now again
> in such an era. Debate over issues has almost entirely disappeared from
> the political "debates" of our "One-Party-with-two-right-wings" state.
> Take away the personal attacks on Clinton on the WSJ ed and op-ed pages
> and what you have left is praise for Clinton's program. And indeed they
> should praise him for he has done better by WSJ principles than did either
> Reagan or Bush.

Balderdash.  You're not paying attention.

Here are seven big issues
currently being debated where there is
or was significant daylight between the
two parties:

1.  Whether to spend the budget surplus or not; the latter
would make possible a significant expansion of domestic
discretionary spending for useful purposes;

2.  Social Security privatization.

3.  New right-wing proposals for a 'trillion dollar tax cut.'

4.  Patients bill of rights, prelude to potential comprehensive
regulation of HMO's and reopening of health care debate;

5.  Free trade (currently, a NAFTA-Africa bill is in play)

6.  Tax reform:  flat tax versus increasing the progressivity
of the current system.

7.  The highway bill, a significant expansion of public
works which defied the conventional wisdom about deficits
and government spending.

I do not include the tobacco settlement or campaign finance
reform because these are less clear-cut in their purposes,
effects, and degree of associated party partisanship.

I should qualify that "two parties" on some
of these issues (particularly 1 and 5), means
the Republicans, the Clinton Administration,
and the Senate on one side, and the House
Democrats on the other.

MBS