To: Alighieri who wrote (713144 ) 5/6/2013 12:59:10 PM From: one_less 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to >>>This is a bunch of kool-aid non sense. Be specific. ...list them... I Said>>>The progressive changes conservatives object to are discussed here daily. Here is the list I produced off the top of my head (which could have been much longer) Specifics More Regulation and Services (example Universal Health Care)Progressives: Prefer more regulation and services like free universal health care to be provided by the government to all citizens. Conservatives: Prefer smaller government, less regulation, most services to be provided by the private sector in a free market, and a literal interpretation of the Constitution. Increase taxes on high income earners Progressives: Government should provide more services to the less fortunate (like health care) and increase taxes if necessary. High-income earners should pay a larger percentage of their income as taxes. Conservatives: Government should tax less and spend less. Cutting spending to balance the budget should be the priority. Higher income earners should have an incentive to invest (credits). Charity is the responsibility of the people. Marriage Progressives: Gay couples must have equal rights like everyone else (e.g. marriage). Conservatives: Opposed to gay marriage. Marriage is a union of one man and one woman. Abortion Progressives: Abortion should be legal. A woman’s right to choose what happens to her body (and what is contained there-in) is inviolable. Conservatives: Opposed to abortion. Consider it an act of tyranny to force them to pay taxes for something they consider murder. Embryonic Research Progressives: Support embryonic stem cell research. Conservatives: Opposed to embryonic stem cell research. 2nd Amendment Progressives: Support restrictions and regulation around the right to bear arms. The second amendment does not give citizens the right to keep and bear arms, but only allows the state to keep a militia (national guard). Individuals do not need guns for protection. that is why we have law enforcement and the military. Additional laws are needed to stop violence. Conservatives: Oppose restrictions and regulation around the right to bear arms. Individuals have the right to defend themselves. There are too many gun control laws and additional laws will not lower gun crime rates. What is needed is enforcement of current laws. Gun control laws do not prevent criminals from obtaining guns. More guns in the hands of law abiding citizens means less crime.Government structure of law at the expense of individual freedom Progressives: The people should look to the government to provide a structure. Laws are enacted to protect every individual for an equal society sometimes at the expense of economic freedom if necessary. Conservatives: Government should serve people, not the other way around. We must allow people to pursue their own goals, and reduce the bureaucratic obstacles that stand in their way.Religion Progressives: Progressives in general oppose the influence of religion in politics except recently where they have endorsed economic equality as having a religious foundation. Conservatives: Individuals should exercise personal responsibility and it is the government’s role to hold them accountable even with severe penalties. Laws are enacted to reflect the best interest of the society as a whole. Larger Government Progressives: Seeks to allow government greater powers of intervention designed to help the poor by preventing exploitation and readjusting the balance of wealth. Conservatives: Holds that a large government results in a condition of oppression of liberty through excessive intervention into the private lives of individuals and communities. Role of Government Progressives: Support a government that can guarantee no one is in need, emphasizing the need for the government to solve problems (equal opportunity, alleviate social ills, protection of civil liberties and human rights). Conservative: Support the notion that the role of government should be to provide people with the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals, emphasizing empowerment of the individual to solve problems (free market, individual liberty, traditional American values and strong national defense). States Rights Progressives: Proclaim the federal government as the solution to problems (however this relationship was reversed in the sixties and seventies). Conservatives: Support States Rights when they oppose a particular piece of federal legislation (abortion, gun control etc) Affirmative Action Progressives: Affirmative Action is as vital today as it ever was in protecting worker rights without regard to race, gender, creed, color, or national origin. Conservatives : The original reasoning for Affirmative Action has been abandoned, and in its place diversity has become the goal, where lower qualified are promoted in place of the work hard to get ahead concept, which breeds contempt for the system. Education, hard work, and ethics mean less than entitlements.Death Penalty Progressives: Oppose the death penalty, believing that with regards to law and order, rehabilitation is more important than punishment. Conservatives: Support the death penalty as an effective deterrent and long-standing value representative of their firmness on law and order. Global Warming Progressives: Global warming is a real-time crisis requiring swift curbs on smokestack and tailpipe gases that trap heat, and that big oil, big coal and antiregulatory conservatives are trashing the planet. Conservatives: Global warming is somewhere between a hoax and a minor irritant, and argues that liberals’ thirst for top-down regulations will drive American wealth to developing countries and turn off the fossil-fueled engine powering the economy. Government Surveillance Progressives: Support surveillance needed to gain intelligence on anti-government activity. Conservatives : Are opposed to surveillance as an intrusion of privacy and an attempt to gather intelligence on those who oppose the platforms of the current administration.
