Seriously....

I was reading a FaceBook post where a democrat/liberal/leftist commented about how much good the democrats have done for our great nation. (I added the part about “for our great nation”) Her diatribe just bolstered the arguments that public schools have been indoctrinating their students for years with revisionist history. Republican bad, democrat good. Conservative bad, liberal good. Free market capitalism bad, socialism good. If history was actually taught appropriately and honestly, just think about how well we could all get along. Anyway, here are the counterpoints to her misguided comments that credited democrats with everything from creating the cure for cancer (just kidding!) to inventing the internet (for real). This is a pretty extensive list, but to properly understand just how out of touch with reality people that vote “d” are, this is worth the read.

• Social Security – FDR’s unfunded Ponzi scheme that the democrats have used to fund their never ending social programs instead of actually funding the program. Going into insolvency in 2032.

• Medicare – Lyndon Johnson’s expansion of the welfare state

• Medicaid – Lyndon Johnson’s program that reimburses pennies on the dollar, which has led to the increasing cost of healthcare and insurance and the collapse of nursing homes nationwide.

• Healthcare reform – The ACA is such an utter failure, so much so that the democrats already want to change it to single payer, Medicare for all or whatever is the name du jour today. Puuu-leeze.

• FDA began on Theodore Roosevelt’s watch, a Republican.

• The New Deal – FDR’s foray into socialism. Coming out of the Great Depression, FDR spent more than the GDP on programs that paid for infrastructure repair and numerous other employment and projects at taxpayer expense. This administration begat the entitlement culture that so permeates our society.

• Great Society – Lyndon Johnson’s expansion of FDR’s social programs to ensure the continuing segregation of African Americans into the inner city, giving them just enough money to live with a few creature comforts and keep them voting for democrats that only want their vote to maintain power.

• Peace Corps – Good program serving those in need. President Kennedy signed Executive order 10924 to create the program.

• Vista, which was expanded by President Clinton in 1993 as AmeriCorps. Six years ago, USA Today called “AmeriCorps a wasteful flop” saying many members are serving as recess referees. The article also asked the question, do we really need playground monitors? In 2018 a CBS News investigation revealed that AmeriCorps programs, are rife with sexual misconduct and failed to meet federal standards and requirements.

• The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 with more than 50% of the democrats in Congress voting against it.

• Women’s right to vote or the 19th Amendment - Between January 1918 and June 1919, the House and Senate voted on the federal amendment five times. Each vote was extremely close and southern democrats continued to oppose giving women the vote.

• Motor Voter – You’ve got to be kidding, a democrat scheme to allow more fraudulent voting, including issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is a positive for who?

• Equal Rights – The Equal Rights amendment has not yet garnered ratification by enough states to be enacted into law.

• Voting Rights Act – Passed into law in 1965 with a 77-19 vote in the Senate, with 16 democrat southern state Senators voting no and all but 2 Republicans voting to approve.

• Equal Pay Act – Signed into law by President Kennedy in 1963. In 2020, women make only $0.81 for every dollar a man makes. How’s that working for ‘ya?

• Consumer protection – This includes a number of different agencies created under numerous administrations, both democrat and Republican.

• Funding for science, Medical and engineering research, space exploration, NSF and NIH - Wow where do I begin. Spending on the above programs increased $4.95billion in 2018. How does that fit the narrative that the Trump administration has gutted those programs.

• Support for public education, HeadStart school lunch and breakfast programs - As public school unions support democrats by the tune of over $30 million annually, democrats do support any and all programs that the teacher’s unions want. (See common core and the steady decline in our student’s scores as compared to the rest of the world.) Head Start was a program that began with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiative.

• NLRB, 40 hour work week, overtime and unemployment compensation – Yep, all democrat programs signed into law by FDR.

• EPA, National Parks, and increased wilderness areas, aka federally owned lands – Richard Nixon, a Republican, signed an executive order creating The EPA. Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, made conservation a top priority and established many new national parks, forests and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources.

• Endangered species act and FEMA – The Endangered Species Act was signed into law by Richard Nixon, a Republican. FEMA was created by and executive order by Jimmy Carter, a democrat. I guess not everything Carter did was a disaster, no pun intended.

• GI bill, UN, NATO, Marshall Plan – Check, all democrat policies.

• Vehicle safety requirements and emission standards – Sorry, the Clean Air Act was signed into law by George HW Bush. Federal vehicle safety requirements were instituted on Lyndon Johnson’s watch.

• TVA, federal loan program, PBS, NPR and finally, the democrats are responsible for the internet – TVA-FDR, federal loan program aka FFEL, Federal Family Education loan, began issuing loans in 1965, Lyndon Johnson, until it ended in 2010. PBS-1970, Nixon. NPR-1971 Nixon. And now the internet-To credit the creation or even the inspiration for the creation of the internet is ludicrous on it’s face. Free enterprise and the free market created the internet and capitalism encouraged it’s growth. To even attempt to credit democrats for the internet is beyond the pale.

So, there you have it. I am certain that many of our “friends” on the other side of the aisle believe, in some form or another, exactly as the author of those “factoids about democrats” believes. Many democrat policies and programs are littered with unintended consequences and even more are deliberately and insidiously proposed with an expected outcome that benefits their base and benefactors. Be careful what you wish for when deciding to give credit for some of the legislation passed by democrats that accomplishes little or nothing for the majority of the people that they are charged to represent.