I have written in the past about my Republican friends, and their propensity for spinning the truth. They speak in talking points with little consideration for the facts, and often sound like employees of FOX News, a fact I’m sure would make them proud. The following is a list one of them sent me, and I feel the need to refute their inane accusations, if for no other reason than to get the truth out there.
12 Reasons People vote Democrat:
1. They vote Democrat because they believe oil companies profits of 4% per gallon are obscene, but the government tax of 15% isn’t.
Exxon Mobil made $41 billion in 2011. They must be selling a whole lot of gas to make that kind of money, and that is net, not gross. Yet they have, in the past, paid nothing in taxes despite these huge profits. Add to that the $4 billion in annual subsidies that Big Oil gets from the government, and they seem to be doing quite well. Why do Republicans feel compelled to come to their defense? As to the 15% tax, the government needs money to run. If Exxon Mobil isn’t willing to pay their share, it has to come from somewhere. Republicans won’t raise corporate taxes, so it comes out of the consumers pockets. I don’t know about you, but $3.75 a gallon for gas and $4.11 a gallon for home heating oil seems a little steep for me. And it isn’t the government making that profit, it’s Big Oil.
2. They vote Democrat because they believe the government will do a better job spending their money than they will.
Taxes, according to Republicans, are out of hand, when in fact they have never been lower for this extended a period. Bush had them lowered to 35% early in his first term and there they have stayed, in deference to the “Job Creators” we’ve heard so much about. Some Republicans, like Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, want them even lower. How that sounds logical is beyond me. During past crises the rate has gone as high as 91% (under Ike, a Republican.) No, the Republicans are against their taxes being used for public assistance. God forbid we help the poor. Where is the outcry against the $4 billion given to Big Oil? Basically, Republicans want to pick and choose where tax money goes.
3. They vote Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
This one stumps me. Do Republicans want to offend? Is this a shot at the politically correct? If so, I’d say talking heads like O’Reilly and Hannity already offend to their heart’s content, and apologize to no one. Freedom of Speech works both ways and is all-encompassing.
4. They vote Democrat because they are way to irresponsible to own a gun, and they know the local police are all they need to protect them from murderers and thieves.
Ah, the NRA. Probably the most powerful lobby in Washington and they own the Republican party. Democrats don’t want to ban weapons, just make it a bit harder to own one. Who really needs an Uzi? Lets ask ex-Representative Giffords of Arizona if she thinks we should make it more difficult for nut jobs to buy automatic weapons. As far as trusting the police, would you prefer vigilantism. Remember, it works both ways.
5. They vote Democrat because they believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don’t drive a Prius.
There are so many problems with this statement I don’t know where to begin. First, it isn’t weathermen telling us about global warming, it is scientists. As to the polar ice caps, they are already melting. Polar bear habitats are shrinking at record rates, look it up. Even if you don’t believe in the theory of global warming, you have to believe that polluting the Earth even further than we already have can’t be good. Always err on the side of caution.
6. They vote Democrat because they’re not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
Conservatives believe life begins at conception, liberals believe it begins at birth. Conservatives want to tell women what they can do with their own bodies, all while crying for LESS government. Can anyone other than me see the contradiction inherent in that statement? They want to force women to be parents, and then deny them any help in the form of public assistance? Some people just aren’t cut out to be parents, and some just don’t want to be, and will take it out on the poor children. And as to the death row reference, here’s the reverse. Why are conservatives so concerned with a non-formed ectoplasms but seem so willing to put a fellow human being to death (a death which could be in error.) Again, err on the side of caution.
7. They vote Democrat because they think illegal aliens have a right to free healthcare, education, and Social Security benefits, and think benefits should be taken away from those who have paid into it.
This is completely bogus. Republicans are the ones who want to do away with Social Security. They consider it an entitlement. It has been Republicans who want to privatize Social Security, led by Bush the Younger when he was President, and backed most recently by Gingrich. Democrats have NEVER wanted to change Social Security, and would like to see it re-funded. Hey, if we can find the money for two wars, we can find the money for Social Security.
As to the illegal aliens, they benefit the rich. Who do you think does all the work on those estates in Greenwich and New Canaan? Who cuts the grass, cleans the pools, cleans the house and clears the driveway of snow? Illegals, and they do it for less than minimum wage. Republicans don’t really want illegals deported, so they focus on extraneous details in the hope of angering the masses and taking the focus off the real problem.
8. They vote Democrat because they believe that business should not be allowed to make a profit for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest to the government for redistribution as Democrats see fit.
Again with the hyperbole. Businesses need profits to exist. What Democrats are against is the massing of wealth by certain companies – like Exxon Mobil – at the expense of the American public. Greed will ultimately kill Capitalism. Corporations need to pay taxes to keep our nation up and running. They use public roads to ship their products, our dock to load their ships and they receive public subsidies, after all. Republicans cry about the fact that half of America pays no taxes, yet when corporations like Exxon Mobil and General Electric pay no taxes for years on end there is no public outcry. Life goes on.
9. They vote Democrat because they believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
Matters of law are not up to a public vote. This country is not ruled by the majority, as conservatives believe, but by rule of law. Plus, even if some “Liberal” judge were to issue a biased ruling, we have a very conservative Supreme Court that would shoot it right out of the sky.
10. They vote Democrat because they think it’s better to pay billions to people who hate us for their oil, but not drill at all because it might endanger some beetle, gopher or fish.
Even if we accessed every known deposit on American soil we would still need to buy oil elsewhere. Republicans in search of profit view pollution as necessary for business. And we do drill, so the statement that we don’t is a lie. Again, Republicans are backing Big Oil, who would benefit most from more drilling. Last year, refined gas was our largest export. Life goes on.
11. They voted Democrat while living in the greatest, most wonderful country in the world because they were promised “Hope and Change”.
The Bush years, with its two wars and its recession/depression, were the catalysts for the “Hope and Change” platform. As to America being the greatest, I question how a nation that now tortures people can be considered the best of anything. How a nation that now throws its poorest and oldest individuals under the bus can consider itself the best of anything. And remember, it wasn’t just Democrats who wanted “Hope and Change”, Independents also helped elect Obama President.
12. They voted Democrat because their heads are so firmly planted up their asses that it’s unlikely that they’ll ever have another point of view.
Liberals are, by definition, more open to change than conservatives. Conservatives have been spouting the same rhetoric since St. Ronald was president, despite the fact it has never worked. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say it is Conservatives who have become rather well acquainted with their backsides.
Well, that’s my screed for today. If any of you Conservative fools care to rebut my points, feel free to do so, but I figure it will take at least a few days before you get some fresh talking points from FOX.
Have a nice day!
breezespeaks 
I would like to reply to this post however it WILL take this conservative fool a few days to appropriately respond because today I have to work until 5, get to the dr.s on lunch – yes, I too have high blood pressure from just under 30 years of job stress – make dinner, help with homework, get girls to ice skating lessons for 6, run the vacuum, get in a couple of loads of laundry and maybe then be able to catch the news at 11. All this on my own because my husband works nights. Not his first choice but he does what he needs to do to support his family. My friend Lori called me yesterday to tell me she is moving to Florida because that is where her husband found work. Another friends husband has spent the last month in Alaska of all places because that is where his work took him. You do what you need to do for your family. I grew up in an abusive, dysfunctional household, lived in a foster home, and went out on my own at 18. Although I could have stayed a ward of the State and had them pay for my education, I wanted to be independent. I worked 3 jobs to support myself. I put myself through college. I gave birth to my first child while still paying off my student loans. We paid $222 week for daycare while paying a mortgage, car payment, hospital bills, credit cards, etc. At the end of the month we still cannot rub two nickels together. It would be a lot easier if only one of us worked. We could qualify for some type of aid or food assistance and my husband could see his children more than 1 hour in the mornings. We cannot afford to go for a cocktail nor for a bite to eat. My daughter’s braces will be off before I have finished paying for them. The pressure to make ends meet is immense. I do not judge nor care how others live unless it comes from my paycheck and being abused. If everyone relied on the government for support where would the money come from. It COSTS us money when I have to travel for work. We have to pay a babysitter to stay with our kids until my husband gets home at midnight. It costs me to work and then I have to pay for someone else’s choices too? Why should I pay for the drug dealer’s gunshot wounds – I need to pay my own hospital bills. We waited to have kids until we could afford them. Everyone should have the right to choose what to do with their body but then be willing to accept the responsibility of what that choice has brought. It’s unfair to say I have the right to have 10 kids but I need your tax money to support them. When we bought our house we bought what WE thought we could afford – not what the bank told is we could afford. Our choice – our responsibility. How many people willingly chose to live above their means just to keep up with the Jones’s? Why should I pay for the woman on welfare that chooses to keep having kids even though she cannot afford the first one. Why do I need to pay for ESL classes – no one pays for my Spanish classes? Why should illegal aliens be protected by our laws. The key word in that sentence is illegal. I am tired of watching my hard earned money being abused. I paid for my own birth control. Maybe those that cannot afford it should abstain. I would have loved for each of my girls to have their own room but we made the choice to live within our means. It is about making choices and taking responsibility for one’s own actions. I have taught my children to pave their own way and always give back to those less fortunate. I do believe we each create our own destiny by the choices we make. I came from absolutely nothing and had no help. At 18 I worked three jobs to pay to keep a roof over my head. I worked hard to put myself through school so that I could find a good job and I resent working hard all week and then having my money abused by those cheating the system. I think we can all agree that there is abuse in the system. I have no problem helping others in need when the need is true. I donate clothing, books, toys, anything I can, to the Beacon on the Hill instead of having a tag sale or selling it on ebay as others do. We give as much as we can regularly to St. Judd’s and Jerry’s kids. I take my girls to visit home bound members of our Church. We are participating in World Book Night – taking 30 books to the Veterans Hospital and handing them out to the brave men and women in our military. It does not matter if you support war or not – we MUST support these men and women that have made sacrifices of not only time but of their limbs. This is America. We all have the same ability to make our own choices but at the end of the day we all must be willing to accept responsibility for those choices. Government assistance should be a helping hand to those truly in need and not a generational way of life or a substitute for those lacking in ambition. I am very grateful for what we have but also feel very justified in saying that I have worked hard for it. Why shouldn’t everyone else put forth an effort. For those that do benefit from public assistance how often do they give back to something that does not directly benefit them or their family? Can they be found spending their free time giving back? There are many ways to give back that do not cost a cent. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, collect gloves for the needy, spend time at hospice. How many of those on public assistance do nothing other than cash their check, watch Judge Judy and surf the net? Those are the ones I have a problem with.
I get it Heidi, you don’t want people sitting home watching television while you bust your back working. It makes you angry when people abuse the system. Yet any system will be abused: money breeds crime.
Where was your anger when the financial industry brought this country to it’s knees? That was abuse on a grand scale, much larger than what people are doing today. The banks made bad loans, then sold them as AAA rated securities, bringing down everyone in sight. Yet we let the rich off easy, and concentrate our venom on the poor.
The top 20% of people control 93% of the wealth as of 2007, and it has only gotten worse since then. That leaves 7% for the rest of us. Is that fair? Yet Republicans want to lower taxes even further. I’m not against making money, but the levels of wealth being amassed today rivals those of the robber-barons like Rockefeller, Morgan and Vanderbilt. Revolutions have started over less.
You seem to be a Republican only when it comes to public assistance programs. You said, “Everyone should have the right to choose what they do with their body,” so I assume you are pro-choice. And knowing you, I figure you don’t care if two gays want to marry. So why Republican?
Since my business went under we’ve struggled. Without assistance that first year we would have lost the house, though none of the help was for housing specifically. I paid taxes for years, even owned my own business. Had to strike a big check to the IRS every year, thousands of dollars. So when I, a subcontractor, was the first to go when the recession/depression hit, we were up the creek. Suddenly we had no income at all. Why shouldn’t I partake of a system that my tax dollars had supported?
And why should I have to give back for using public assistance? Didn’t I give by paying my taxes over the last 30 years. Next you’re going to tell me you approve of drug testing for all public assistance recipients? Please! How about forced labor? We can form them like chain gangs on the side of roads, cleaning and cutting.
I am the face of the poor, not the abusers focused on by the Republican party. They are in the minority. The idea that everyyone is living high on the hog while on welfare is an urban legend. We lived under the poverty line, even with help, for two years. I didn’t cause this economic collapse.
You should be angry that, after a week of work, you don’t have two nickles to rub together, but that isn’t the fault of the poor. Your anger is misplaced. Be angry at the corporate world, where wages are stagnant and jobs are shipped overseas in search of profit. If the stock market is doing so well – and it is – why aren’t the rest of us?”
Americas current problems have nothing to do with the poor. They are just along for the ride. Look to the other end of the wealth spectrum for the real culprits.
Anyone railing against those on assistance over the last three years has been railing against me. It hasn’t been easy, but it has taught me much, and I will remember it all. Thanks, Breeze.
There is more earl in the GREAT US OF A than in all the middle east.To bad the Liberals wont let any drilling take place, because if they did , the the cost will go down and down and down.Just like Monica Blewinsky..Thank you
The largest reserve in the world is under Saudi Arabia. The second largest is under Iraq.
The cost should go down now, as we sell reserves overseas. (Gas – largest US export.)
And for the record[if there is any] I aint got nothing against Earl Company’s..Thank you once again..And how about them there GIANTS…WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I can not stand payin this much for gas either…we should be drilling for earl right here in America.There is plenty here ya?
Not enough to dent our imports.
HAHAHAHAH