24 Policies That Republicans Supported BEFORE They Were Against Them

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- letsliveinpeace
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1. Health Care Mandates) Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act by Democrats, Republicans widely supported the idea of an individual health care insurance mandate, Newt Gingrich being perhaps the chief supporter. Republicans have always preached about how people need to take responsibility for themselves, and now that a law exists that makes people take responsibility, the GOP is rejecting it simply on the grounds that President Obama and the Democrats passed it.
2. The Nuclear START Treaty) Republicans shamelessly filibustered the ratification of the Obama START Treaty for quite a period of time and criticized it tremendously and continue to try and find ways to circumvent the treaty today. What Republicans conveniently forget is that Ronald Reagan, the man that Republicans worship like a God, negotiated the very first START Treaty which was signed by yet another Republican, George H. W. Bush in 1991. That treaty expired in 2009 so President Obama negotiated a new one to continue the Reagan legacy. But since President Obama negotiated this treaty, Republicans retreated from Reagan’s policy faster than the decade it took to create the START Treaty in the first place.
3. Dream Act) Immigration reform has been touted by Republicans for decades now. Reagan granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the 1980′s. Most recently, Republicans worked on immigration reform under the Bush Administration and failed. President Bush and Senator John McCain both supported immigration reform and were willing to cross the aisle to work with Democrats, most notably Edward Kennedy. All of that work and bipartisanship ceased after the 2008 Election. Staunchly opposed to President Obama and anything his administration supports, Republicans turned their backs on immigration reform in favor of militarizing the border and laws that violate the civil rights of Hispanics. Obama’s Dream Act would do much that Reagan would approve of, but Republicans refuse hear anything of it.
4. TARP) Republicans supported TARP when they helped pass it in response to the economic collapse in 2008. President Bush even signed the legislation into law. But since it’s been up to the guiding hands of President Obama to deal with TARP, Republicans have since revoked their support and have been highly critical even as they take credit for it when presenting stimulus checks to their local constituents. The fact is, TARP is successful because President Obama oversaw it and Republicans hate that fact.
5. Bail Out of Auto Industry) Republicans once supported this too but abandoned it once President Obama called for it. The auto industry is a vital manufacturing sector that supports millions of American jobs and Republicans WANTED the industry to fail simply because President Obama wanted the bail out. If it had failed, Republicans would have blamed President Obama for not supporting the American auto industry. The bail out has been a resounding success with most of the money plus interest paid back to the taxpayers. Mitt Romney has since tried to take credit for the idea because it has been so successful.
6. Israel Going Back To Pre-1967 Borders) Many Presidents have suggested this, even George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. But once President Obama repeated it, Republicans immediately denounced the President and threw their support to Israel’s President. This action by Republicans is totally unprecedented. It is reprehensible for American politicians to support a foreign leader more than the American President. Imagine if the Republican Party had overtly supported Hitler over FDR during World War Two. The only reason Republicans are rejecting President Obama’s plan is because they cannot bring themselves to endorse any idea he suggests, even if it is a Republican one.
7. Gun Control) Republicans overwhelmingly reject any and all gun control measures today. Which is very strange considering Ronald Reagan himself supported the Brady Handgun Act. But, it’s still true. Republicans did indeed support gun control measures in the past. It’s different now. Today’s intolerant, prejudiced, and extremist Republican Party is only against gun control now because they believe there needs to be a war against liberals and minority groups. It’s all about fear and war.
8. Public Education) Even the Founding Fathers believed in education for all. Every Republican President in United States history has been supportive of the public education system in this country. Ronald Reagan campaigned on axing the Department of Education but not only did he NOT eliminate it, he amped up its budget. It is only now that President Obama seeks to improve the education system that Republicans are against public education. When President Bush sought to improve public education, Republicans were on board but now that Obama is President, Republicans have decided that all public schools are evil liberal institutions that must be destroyed.
9. Infrastructure Spending) Republicans have always believed in strong infrastructure, until now. Republicans used the power of the federal government to build the railroads in the 1860′s and 1870′s, the Panama Canal in the beginning of the 20th century, and the interstate highway system in the 1950′s. Yet when President Obama called for new infrastructure spending to improve America’s crumbling roads and bridges and to improve our rail lines, Republicans immediately reversed their long-held belief in a strong American infrastructure. Why? Because they hate President Obama and oppose everything he believes in, even if it was once a part of the Republican platform.
10. Child Labor Laws) This one is surprising. Republicans were the ones that championed child labor laws in the first place. Starting in 1852, in the once Republican state of Massachusetts, child labor laws have been fought for by both parties. The only opponent of child labor laws has traditionally been big business. Republicans tried to pass a Constitutional amendment in 1924 and it didn’t succeed. It wasn’t until Democrats passed the Fair Labor Standards Act that child labor laws became federal law. Republicans oppose child labor laws now because of their deep ties with corporations. The goal of the corporate world is to find cheap labor and because President Obama is against huge corporations, Republicans must stand with the corporations, even if that means killing child labor laws.
11. Civil Rights) Republicans were once the champions of civil rights as well. They ended slavery and adopted the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They splintered over the Civil Rights Act in 1964, although it was a Republican led Supreme Court that ruled in the Brown v Board of Education case, and have become more and more opposed to civil rights ever since. President Obama has called for increased civil rights and because of that, Republicans now oppose civil rights for everyone except Christian white males.
12. Environmental Protection) Originally championed by Theodore Roosevelt, Republicans used to support efforts to protect the environment. Over the last century, however, that support has reversed. Republicans even once supported the environment in the 1970′s when Nixon created the EPA, but no longer. Republicans are now in complete support of the irresponsibility of the oil and coal industry and want to open the entire American coastline and even federally protected lands to drilling and mining.
Republicans even used to support cap-and-trade. The first George Bush signed legislation in 1990 that implemented the cap-and-trade system and many Republicans still do support cap-and-trade. But because President Obama supports it, most Republicans are now against it
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maasanova
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Some truth here, some baloney here too.
Most of these policies and issues are political footballs and you can't really lump all Democrats and Republicans together as neither party vote as one homogenous group.
First slice of baloney: TARP was successful? Successful at what? Allowing the Federal Reserve to loan out trillions and further enrich Wall Street corporations?
The first round of votes on TARP shows that there were plenty of Republicans (and Democrats for that matter) who were opposed to it. Why?
And it's true that some Republicans sued Obama for constitutional violations over Libya, but some hawks like John McCain and Lindsey Graham were opposed to Obama's bombing of Libya because he DIDN'T put troops on the ground, not because Obama ordered the bombing campaign.
- 7 months ago
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maasanova
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bailey78
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look we all know they phucked in the head.
- 7 months ago
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bailey78
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nanac
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I hope that the OWS protesters pay close attention to the political party that is devastating the economy by advocating policies to help only the 1%, at the expense of the 99%.
They are treasonous hypocrites who are violating their oath of office, by purposely destroying the economy. How sick can one be?
The TB/GOP hate Obama more than they love their Country, and they hate the unemployed/elderly/Middle-Class even more.
This is another excellent post, letsliveinpeace!.......................Thanks - 7 months ago
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nanac
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VoyagerFilms
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Thank you for posting this letsliveinpeace!
- 7 months ago
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VoyagerFilms
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David_H [removed]
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David_H [removed]
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VoyagerFilms
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David_H:
Actually, you are dishonestly oversimplifying many of your points and honestly address the efforts of Rip-Us-Off-Icans to block and prevent President Obama from making good his pledges during his Presidential campaign - why don't you. Let's not play ignorant here!
- 7 months ago
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VoyagerFilms
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CreditFigaro
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David_H:
"I'm not trying to defend the Republican Party here"
That would be a silly thing to do.
"just trying to point out that they BOTH are as crooked, corrupt and untrustworthy as the other."
False.
This is called false equivalence. Especially when you look at the gravity and nature of the 180's by comparison.
The Republican 180's discussed here are largely domestic and the majority relate to the fundamental problems that face the nation, such as unemployment, fair treatment of workers, economic health, income disparity, social safety nets, imperialism, and the list goes on.
Obama's 180's (I'm assuming those were the best you could come up with?) are largely foreign policy related and economically inconsequential if you compare the impact of the 10 you've quoted vs. 10 of ANY of the ones mentioned by the author of the article.
They are NOT the same. The consequences of one having power over another are vastly different and should be considered when you make a decision who to vote for.
- 7 months ago
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CreditFigaro
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro
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David_H:
"you will find the roots of the domestic problems are largely the result of policies born during the Clinton era."
Some examples? From my understanding, which comes out of thorough research on the subject, our deficit and the majority of our debt is the function of the bush era tax cuts, the two unfunded wars, the failure to embrace nationalized healthcare, and a few useless programs like prescription drug plan.
The Republicans are responsible for EVERY ONE OF THESE.
The debt is the reason we don't have the options we ought to have during this period of recession, and the lack of political will by the right to stimulate the economy and address income inequality is the reason we are still in this mess.
All of these problems have been caused by Republican policies. Every one. You can point to globalization and the resulting trade deficit, but that is a relatively small and murky/complex number. It is NOT the source of our problems, and the reasons for said trade deficit are numerous and sourced from the policies that are largely bipartisan and partisan from each side of the aisle.
One CAN'T argue that foreign policy is the source of our problems, and VERY FEW of the financial policies that have us where we are are sourced from the Clinton era. (I'd love to see what examples you could come up with)
The democratic party is the only thing standing between the american dream and us becoming a Latin-American corporate oligarchy.
Further, your view of the world isn't based on factual economic figures, but blurry inflammation regarding relatively insignificant policies. Please self-evaluate, here. I'm not asking you to say it's all the republicans fault, but if they hadn't had their way, we wouldn't be in this situation, by a LONG shot.
- 7 months ago
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CreditFigaro
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro
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David_H:
"There are plenty of people voicing criticism of the GOP here, I don't feel its worth my time to add another voice to that chorus, so I reserve my time for criticizing the Democrats for their share of the responsibility, for there are far too few voices here doing so"
The chorus sings consistently with the proportionate blame.
If you want to continue with the cliff analogy:
It isn't a matter of the difference between driving off at different speeds, its the difference of whether we drive off at all. Notice the Democrats drove towards the cliff, noticed we are driving towards a cliff, and have depressed the brakes. Meanwhile, the republicans have the pedal to the metal, KNOWING that we are going over the cliff, or covering their eyes.
Who do you want to have control?
It IS a binary situation.
IF, over the last 10 years:
-the Democrats had complete control and behaved consistent with their policy positions, we wouldn't be here.
-the Republicans had complete control and behaved consistent with their policy positions, we would have been here sooner.
Are the democrats responsible? Not really.
Is this an equivalent situation? Absolutely not.
- 7 months ago
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CreditFigaro
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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CreditFigaro
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David_H:
I don't know what loot the treasury means, but here's the deal:
Participate in your primary, and be part of the voice that says: Democrats, you will represent your constituency or you will be replaced."
I am not saying to meekly accept your candidates. Get in those primaries!
- 7 months ago
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CreditFigaro
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letsliveinpeace
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13. Deficit Spending) This one is big. Republicans have employed deficit spending since the Reagan years and abused it during the Bush administration to pass the conservative agenda and to fund wars. Reagan doubled the national debt and George W. Bush proceeded to double it again. But because Democrats controlled the White House and the Congress from 2008 to 2010, Republicans completely reversed their stance on deficit spending and still oppose deficit spending solely on the grounds that a Republican isn’t President. If a Republican were President right now, you can bet the farm that they would abuse deficit spending once again to slam the destructive anti-middle class, anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-America agenda through Congress with no thought about fiscal responsibility whatsoever.
14. Federal Reserve) The Federal Reserve is now a target for most Republicans, which is puzzling because it was a Republican idea. Proposed by Republican leader Nelson Aldrich to organize and regulate the banking system and to enforce monetary policy, and thus stabilize our financial system, the Federal Reserve Act was signed into law by Democratic President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Republicans now want to dismantle or weaken the Federal Reserve because President Obama needs it to enforce Dodd-Frank which will make banks more responsible and accountable, and will protect consumers.
15. Women’s Rights) The women’s rights movement was born in and grew with the Republican Party in the mid 1800′s. Many Republicans supported voting rights for women although to pass the 19th Amendment it took women threatening to cause Republican losses in the 1920 Election to persuade them to help pass it in Congress. As women gained more equality, they also demanded equal pay for equal work and reproductive rights. Ronald Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California in the 1960′s and a moderate conservative Supreme Court handed down the Roe v Wade decision in 1973. Today’s Republican Party is now waging a war against women and the harder Democrats and President Obama fight for women’s rights, the harder Republicans will fight to eliminate them because of orders from white Christian extremists
- 7 months ago
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H:
Let me make this very clear, I didn't say anything, this comment is part of the article, there is more to this article click on link.
- 7 months ago
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H:
Lol you still up?
- 7 months ago
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace: This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
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David_H [removed]
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H:
Thanks I wish the same for you.
- 7 months ago
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letsliveinpeace
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letsliveinpeace
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David_H:
Lol I hople it's a good surprise.
- 7 months ago
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letsliveinpeace
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percipi224
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David_H:
no you aren't wrong about the END THE FED being teaparty as Ron Paul supporters have taken this up.
- 7 months ago
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percipi224