What are the differences between Republicans and Democrats in their views of the government's role in society? How do these differences impact policymaking?
08.06.2025 14:27
Democrats focus on:
Torrential rainstorms deluged Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Floods that are supposed to happen once every thousand years and temperatures that beat records every week are the new normal. These events are unnatural and are a result of how we humans have made the Earth hotter. Scientists (who are a conservative lot – their careers depend on it!) predicted this. But they are surprised at how quickly climate change has happened.
A while back, something unusual happened in the conservative state of Montana…Sixteen young people sued to make the state do more for climate change They said that climate change has caused asthma, eliminated ski resort jobs, destroyed wildlife and made hunting difficult, and - in one case – caused a family to lose its ranch.
New COVID-19 variant detected in Washington state. Here’s what to know - The Seattle Times
Examples of using government for good are
Liberal Democrats are NOT opposed to capitalism. It is the only way to create wealth and reflect the needs and wants of human nature. Democrats simply know when people need help. Democrats want to be humane , but keep the power and freedom of a capitalist economy.
> Belief in science and facts and rejection of silly conspiracy theories — This is a picture of artificial spheres projecting light beams on a cancerous tumor to detect and kill it. It is also a picture of the victory of good over evil. It is also a picture of the victory of science over illness, pain, and death. Many deny the importance of masks and vaccines, the miracles of worldwide communication and medical breakthroughs, and the REAL threat of climate change. Why? To hold onto power? To pretend that they are somehow in the know? I really don’t know. I do know this has nothing to do with real conservatism. Or even common sense. Or even respect for people who may know more than you or me.
One side believes progressives run pedophile rings in pizza joints and the other believes in expanded childcare and healthcare. … One side believes in liberal space lasers while the other side believes in lower-cost prescription drugs. One side believes Tom Hanks drinks the blood of children while the other side believes in addressing climate change. One side thinks Hugo Chávez helped steal an election despite being dead for ten years while the other side believes in the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes. One side believes 9/11, the moon landing, and the Sandy Hook school shooting were faked while the other believes in making education affordable. Huh???
Longer and more severe droughts and long spells of hot weather have caused huge wildfires. One of the worst was in June – smoke from 400 Canadian fires enveloped the skies over most of the Northeast. Schools and outdoor sports events were canceled. These conditions can cause asthma, damage the lungs, and increase the risk of brain decline and heart attacks. One couple and their 12-month-old baby died two miles from safety because of 100-degree heat. Phoenix had had 19 days with temperatures over 110 degrees and its emergency rooms were overwhelmed by heat stroke victims. When temperatures reach 103 degrees, the body tries to cool off by sending blood to the skin and depriving the brain of oxygen…At 107 degrees, things really start to break down…
Belief in democracy — Republicans seem to believe that any election will have two results: The Republican wins…or…the Democrat steals the election. … In 2021, the were elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. The winners won by about the same margins. The Virginia Democrat conceded defeat the next morning and wished his victorious Republican rival well. The New Jersey Republican loser, though, urged people to come forward with evidence of fraud, and the National Republican Party sent 20 lawyers to New Jersey to hunt for fraud. They planned to do the same thing in Virginia if the Republicans had lost. … In many states, Republicans have identified the weak spots in our election system and are trying to exploit them for their gain. …The Party is promoting the “independent state legislature doctrine”, which dictates that a state legislature has the sole power to elect state electors who will vote in national and state elections the way the legislature wants - regardless of the state popular vote … MAGA acolytes have tried to appoint Secretaries of State (who are in charge of certifying votes in each state) who are willing to deny the validity of votes if they are not to the Party’s liking. In the last election in 15 states, if these officials did not do what the Party wanted, they got death threats or were stripped of their authority. … The GA state board (under the control of the Republican legislature) may now overrule voting tallies anywhere in Georgia. Republicans there have been accused of restricting absentee ballots and ballot drop boxes and forbidding giving water to voters in line. These rules are aimed at poor, minority, and elderly voters who find it difficult to take off from work or travel.
MIT Discovers Magnetic Superconductor in Pencil Lead - SciTechDaily
> Belief in small government and individual liberties — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has used his authority to punish companies like Disney for its criticism of his “Don’t Say Gay” law. A Fox News commentator warned Apple and Disney they would lose their trademark and copyright protections and would face anti-trust suits to break them up because of their support for liberal positions. This is the style of the Soviet Union, not American small-government conservatism. … GOP Senators have questioned whether certain Supreme Court cases are valid: the cases that make it legal for married people to buy contraceptives or for people to marry someone of another race. The GOP is questioning our right to privacy and the right to have ANY right that is not expressly listed in the Constitution - or that that the GOP does not approve of.
Protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; good public schools; more support for child care and parental leave for working families; subsidized elder care; universal healthcare; inexpensive higher education; higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations so they pay their share; and regulated markets to protect investors and prevent catastrophic downturns. There is no question that these goals are liberal - using the resources of government to help citizens, give them security, and protect them from powerful private interests. However there is no chance of us becoming socialist.
Republicans are making climate change a political issue – that it isn’t real, that it is nothing to worry about, that it isn’t man-made, that it is too expensive to do anything about, or it's merely the bleating of “woke” liberals and other sheep. Well, it is real and it is a result of our use of fossil fuels and other chemicals in almost everything from plastics to ships.
Nutritionists Reveal the Surprising Amount of Protein You Actually Need - AOL.com
Democratic President Clinton balanced our budget and was the last president to reduce our debt. Under Barack Obama, our system made some liberal reforms. Obama worked with BUSINESS LEADERS and banks to save us from the Great Recession (which could have ruined lives). For decades, Joe Biden represented the most business-oriented state in the US – Delaware. As president, he created 12 million new jobs, started rebuilding our infrastructure, reduced unemployment (to lower than it’s been in a half a century) and inflation, and supported small businesses.
Informed people say that the economy will suffer losses of 14.4 trillion dollars over the next few years as a result of climate change. In 1980, three natural disasters ( a drought, a flood, and a hurricane) cost 1 billion dollars each in damages in 2023 dollars. Over the last 40 years, there have been an average of 8 disasters that each cost a billion dollars in damages. Last year, there were 18 natural disasters that caused 1 billion dollars in damage. One hurricane alone caused 114 billion. It will be hard to have a good economy when people are trapped in their houses and everything on the coasts is underwater.
> Kindness for the less fortunate while protecting our borders and avoiding senseless cruelty — 3,000 verses in the Bible call for the care of the stranger, the marginalized, the oppressed, and the poor. Once, all of us were all immigrants, escaping poverty and persecution. Are these people fleeing poverty, persecution from repressive socialist countries, or gang violence so different? Of course, we cannot have people flooding into our country and overwhelming schools, hospitals, and public services. But, we need to protect our borders in a humane way, and farmers and small businesses need low-skilled workers (while many of these jobs aren’t taken by Americans). There are horror stories coming from the border: a 4-year-old girl fainting from heat exhaustion and a woman miscarrying after crossing razor wire — a teenager breaking his leg in the middle of the Rio Grande and people drowning because of obstacles. President Biden has imposed high levels of proof for immigrants claiming asylum from persecution and violence. Since then there have been thousands fewer illegal immigrants. It is still high but it at least shows progress – and without spitting up families and putting kids in cages as the Trump administration did.
George E. Smith, Nobel laureate who envisioned digital imagery, dies at 95 - The Washington Post
> Respect for others’ views, compromise, and nonviolence — 84 percent of Americans are afraid of retaliation or harsh criticism for expressing their opinions, and more than half have actually not said or written something because of fear. Once upon a time, we all felt that we were Americans first and could have friendly disagreements. Steve Bannon (media mogul and former aide to President Trump) thanked the rioters who responded to President Trump’s instructions to “fight like hell” and invade the Capitol on January 6, 2021…These rioters gave many of the policemen guarding the Capitol broken bones, concussions, chemical burns, and a taser-induced heart attack. That day, a congressman said he was afraid to certify the results of the 2020 election because he was worried about what rioters might to do his wife and children., One “peaceful” protester hurled a flagpole like a spear into a policeman’s face and another grabbed a face mask off another officer and bashed his head against a door. There was planning for this fight as well. Before the attack on the Capitol, GOP Representative Barry Loudermilk gave a tour of the Capitol and its grounds to a man who photographed tunnels, stairs, and security checkpoints. The next day, the same man recorded a video addressed to Democrats, “There’s no escape. We’re coming for you”. One man was arrested with a truck full of Molotov cocktails, 11 jars of homemade (always the best) napalm, and other weapons. Another man was turned into the FBI by his son and the dad told him that he was a traitor and “traitors get shot.” … Republicans produce a river of threats and anger against anyone in their path.