LIFE
Rather than taking a Judeo-Christian approach to life, the Democratic Party is obsessed with death. Clearly abortion is a pillar of their agenda. Add to that their support of doctor-assisted suicide and the inevitable rationing and/or withholding of care for the very sick and the elderly that occurs under all socialized medicine schemes and the culture of death is complete.
- The advocate strongly for abortion on demand preferably paid for with tax-payer dollars. Consider the continuous glorification of Planned Parenthood by Democrats. Consider the forcing of religious employers to offer abortifacients in their health insurance plans. Consider their preference for minimal, if any, parental notification for abortion. Consider the systematic demonization of anyone who speaks about Pro-Life. Consider their opposition to all efforts to teach abstinence in the public schools. Consider applauding of the FDA's approval of over-the-counter morning-after pills. Consider Barack Obama's own words: "I don't want my daughters punished with a baby."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Democrat from New York, in reference to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 1797) which will ban abortions after five months of pregnancy exemplifies the Democrats decades-long, pro-abortion stance when he said, “Every single year we have to go through the same nonsense with the same morally presumptuous, morally arrogant attitude that we know better. ‘We know better than women and their doctors. We know better about their health care. We know better about their moral choices in very personal decisions.’” Notice there is no mention of the baby that is being killed! I bet Congressman Nadler is glad his mother “choose” to give birth to him!
- Partial birth abortion - Obama argued against a bill to ban partial birth abortions while in the Illinois State Senate. The mainstream media ignored the recent murder trail of the abortionist monster Dr. Gosnell in Philadelphia.
- Death panels in Obamacare - All socialized medicine plans ration care. Obamacare is no different. In order to keep costs under control, the Obamacare law has in it a panel which will make healthcare decisions on behalf of the government who, under a single-payer system, has a vested interest in how the dollars are spent. Obama himself said this during a town hall meeting when asked how his healthcare plan would evaluate a 105-year old mother who was facing a need for a pacemaker. Obama considerately said, "Maybe your better off not having the surgery. Maybe your better off taking a pain pill." Consider how HHS Secretary Sebellus callously responded to the 10-year Philadelphia girl who needed a lung transplant, "some people live and some people die."
- Obama's home town of Chicago is the murder capital of the country. Not much concern over life there!
- The four people killed in the consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya. The Obama Administration and the Democratic Party have done nothing but blame an obscure video for the attack and hamper all efforts to investigate. No consideration for the loss of life.
- The Fast and Furious debacle resulted in the death of a border patrol agent and hundreds of Mexican citizens. What was Obama and the Democratic Party's response? Delay, divert and demonize those who wish to get to the bottom of the scandal.
- Margaret Sanger - Founder of Planned Parenthood and proponent of eugenics is a named hero of Leftists like Hillary Clinton.
- The DDT ban has resulted in the deaths of millions of people based on junk science presented by Rachel Carson in 1962. The EPA banned the life-saving chemical for decades. All in the name of the junk science known as "environmentalism". Again, no consideration for the loss of life that resulted from their baseless ban.
- CAFÉ standards have resulted in lighter vehicles, which results in more vehicular deaths.
- In the wake of the Zimmerman trial, we are now being told by The Left that we have a duty to retreat in the face of an attack.
LIBERTY
- The Democratic Party is the Party of higher taxes. Every tax dollar out of your pocket restricts your liberty because you are no longer at liberty to spend those dollars as you see fit.
- The Democratic Party is constantly trying to dismantle the 2nd Amendment: Every shooting comes with cries for gun control restrictions.
- Obamacare is the ultimate liberty-limiting tool as you hand over your healthcare decision making to the government.
- Civil Rights – Which political party opposed civil rights legislation? Which political party imposed Jim Crow laws?
- Thousands of regulations are created and enforced by unelected bureaucrats – IRS, EPA, FDA, NLRB, HHS - all of which are tools used by the Democratic Party to punish their political opponents.
- The Democratic Party is opposed to every effort to institute school choice and/or school vouchers. This is done so the teacher unions can continue to prosper and donate to Democrat candidates. One of Obama's first acts as president was to abolish a successful voucher program in Washington, D.C.'s public school system.
- Global warming’s junk science comes with the requirement that we abandon many of the creature comforts of modern society and pay carbon taxes (see high taxes above).
- Failure to prosecute blatant voter intimidation case in 2010 in Philadelphia. The liberty of legitimate voters was violated that day!
- Liberty is restricted when risk is transferred from the private sector to the tax-payer – FDIC, national flood insurance, Fannie and Freddie bailouts, etc.
- IRS targeting groups with political differences than the Democratic Party.
- Restrictions on domestic drilling for oil unnecessarily raises the cost of gas, taking dollars out of our pockets (same as a tax increase - see above).
- Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check) – Why would you need the liberty of a secret ballot?
- Freedom of Speech: Consider Chick-fil-A and the gay marriage controversy. Consider the Fairness Doctrine, which is proposed to reign in conservative talk radio.
- Freedom of Religion: Today’s liberals argue for freedom FROM religion. They believe religion in general (Christianity specifically) must be banned from the public square lest someone become offended.
- Freedom of Association: As long as you are not a gun owner, an NRA member, a donor to a Republican candidate, or a Tea Party organization trying to secure non-profit status, you should have no problems. Otherwise, newspapers will publish your address, the media and members of the Democratic Party will denigrate you, SWAT teams will swarm your workplace (Gibson Guitar), and the IRS will target and harass you.
In the Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness refers to citizens' right to private property, which is a pillar of our society. Here again, the Left is not a big fan because it means the people are in control; not the government. For the purposes of this essay, I am broadening the definition of pursuit of happiness as outlined below.
The only consistent definition of pursuit of happiness that I have found in the liberal dogma is sex. They oppose abstinence education. They want to teach our kids sex education at ridiculously early ages. They want everyone, including our kids, to have access to "free" contraception and, of course, if you do get pregnant, they want "free" abortions. Finally, they continually excuse perverted actions and repeated adultery by Democrat politicians and left-wing nutjobs (see Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Anthony Weiner, Senator Bob Menendez, Jesse Jackson, Idiot Spitzer, and Al Sharpton).
The way the Democratic Party has inflicted the most damage on the United States in regards to the pursuit of happiness is by constantly segmenting the populace into competing groups. Franklin Roosevelt mastered the art of segmentation only to be perfected over the ensuing decades by each new generation of Democrat candidates. Liberal / Progressive doctrine argues that you cannot be happy if someone else has more than you. When they do not have the law or the people on their side, they turn to the courts to implement and enforce their agenda.
- Debt and deficits: Debt is the biggest roadblock to our nations future pursuit of happiness. It forces us to pay more in taxes, limits our upward mobility, and enslaves future generations.
- Perpetually high unemployment - What is more restricting of the pursuit of personal happiness than being unemployed for a long period of time? Whose policies have resulted in more prolonged periods of unemployment, lower standards of living, and malaise? Think FDR. Think Jimmy Carter. Think Obama.
- The welfare state. The third pillar of the Democratic Party after abortion-on-demand and tax hikes is an ever-expanding welfare state. Their theory is the more people who are on welfare and, thus, dependent on the government, the more likely they will be to vote for Democrats who promise more of the same.
- Amnesty for illegal immigrants directly impacts the pursuit of happiness of LEGAL citizens by stealing jobs, stealing our tax dollars, etc. There are some short-sighted and misguided Republicans who support amnesty but this is a liberal/progressive policy as its aim is to put more voters on the public dole.
- Spread the wealth around. On its face, this policy stifles the pursuit of happiness of the person from whom wealth is being confiscated from.
- Free market capitalism is the nature order. It is based on natural law where each individual pursues their interests by serving others and, therefore, getting paid to do such. Which political party consistently advocates for the building of barriers through regulations, bureaucracies, and new agencies that subdue or kill an individual’s ability to pursue happiness.
