Democracy and Particapation Flashcards
(17 cards)
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding healthcare reform
There is a major factional divide within the Democratic Party, with the most liberal Democrats (Congressional progressive Caucus) wanting to introduce single-payer healthcare, whilst the more conservative Democrats (Blue Dog Democrats) who mostly represent Southern states, have long been critical of such plans.
As a result, the PPACA (2010) modified, rather than replaced, America’s private healthcare system.
For example, in April 2019, democratic-socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (Congressional Progressive Caucus) introduced his ‘Medicare for All Act’ bill that would create a government-run system to provide health insurance for all Americans.
This legislation was co-sponsored by Democrat Senators Gillibrand, Harris, and Warren.
On the other hand however, even other progressive Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have urged caution on ‘Medicare for All’, arguing that it is better to improve Obamacare as well as reflecting on the fact to that Sander’s policy may be too expensive, costing $30 trillion over 10 years.
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding healthcare reform (Evaluation)
Despite the fact that single-payer healthcare is a major source of contention within the party, the aim for universal healthcare in general is not.
For example, Chuck Schumer insisted in 2018 that “there are lots of different routes” to universal healthcare, and in March 2019, Pelosi acknowledged the goal of universal healthcare when she declared in a statement that “as we mark the 9th anniversary of the ACA, we reaffirm our commitment to this fundamental truth: that healthcare must be a right, not a privilege, for all Americans”.
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding the environment
In February 2019, Democrat representatives Ocasio-Cortez and Markey introduced a resolution to the House, labelled the Green New Deal.
It includes 7 major goals, like shifting 100% of national power generation to renewable sources, building a national energy-efficient “smart grid”, and decarbonising manufacturing and agricultural industries.
This was supported by 60 House Democrats and 4 Senate Democrats running for president (Sanders, Warren, Gillibrand, and Harris).
This was rejected by the Senate in March 2019 in a decisive 57-0 vote, including 4 Senators who caucus with the Democrats including Joe Manchin, from the coal-heavy state of West Virginia, and Doug Jones, from the also coal-heavy, though also iron and steel producing state, of Alabama
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding the environment (Evaluation)
The Green New Deal was rejected due to the belief that in its current form, it is neither practical nor attainable ($93 trillion), not because the Democrats are particularly divided over the crux of the issue that global warming is a considerable threat
Under President Obama, the Democrats introduced the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a series of regulations issued by the EPA that would have introduced the first national standards for carbon pollution from power plants.
In addition to this, in May 2019, the Democrat-dominated House passed the the Climate Action Now Act which prohibits the issue of federal funds to advance the US’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Cited the first major climate change legislation in a decade, the CANA was voted for by every participating Democrat in the House.
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding social issues
Following the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting, the Democrats proposed several gun reforms, such as the 2013 bill attempting to expand background checks on firearms sales, as well as ban some semi-automatic weapons modelled after military assault weapons.
However, due to internal divides in the party, the bill was defeated in the Senate as some Blue Dog Democrats, who are mostly from the Second Amendment supportive Southern states, aligned with the Republicans.
In addition, despite Obama’s heavy support for the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed same-sex marriage, Blue Dog Democrats have tended to support civil unions for same-sex couples instead.
Evaluate that there are divisions within the Democratic Party regarding social issues (Evaluation)
Democrats in the House also approved sweeping anti-discrimination legislation in May 2019 that would extend civil rights protections to LGBT people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Evaluation that there are divisions within the Republican Party regarding foreign policy
In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order which banned all foreign nationals from 7 Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, or being issued a visa for 90-days.
24 Republican congressmen opposed the EO, with Senator Flake regarding it “unacceptable”, and Senator Sasse regarding it “too broad”.
In addition, in February 2019, the Trump administration refused to respond to a request from Congress to provide a report determining who killed the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
This aroused strong opposition from Republican senators who have accused Trump of whitewashing his murder.
Republican Senator Shelby insisted that “all evidence … leads back to the crown prince” and other Republican senators were so aggrieved that they joined a 63-37 Senate vote to start a debate on limiting presidential war powers to aid the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Evaluation that there are divisions within the Republican Party regarding foreign policy (Evaluation)
85 Republican Congressmen still supported Trump’s travel ban and he has also rallied considerable Republican support for the sanctions he introduced in February 2019 against the Maduro government of Venezuela; these are intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the country’s oil sector which is responsible for 90% of the government’s revenues.
Evaluation that there are divisions within the Republican Party regarding the economy
In May 2019, Trump more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products.
In response to this, Senate Republicans broke ranks by openly criticising Trump’s escalating trade war with China, warning that farmers in traditionally Republican rural states will bear the brunt
Among the most vocal Republican critics of Trump’s trade policies has been Senator Grassley who took the rare step of openly accusing the President of not listening to concerns.
In addition, in January 2017, Trump also signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In response, in February 2018, 25 Republican Senators sent Trump a letter asking him to “re-engage with the Trans-Pacific Partnership” in an attempt to get Trump to take a softer stance on trade.
Evaluation that there are divisions within the Republican Party regarding the economy
This Republican opposition to Trump’s trade agenda is largely insignificant as Senators claim to have no will to challenge the will of the President, and there is no plan to stop, or even threaten, the President’s tariff regime.
Evaluation that there are divisions within the Republican Party regarding social issues
In May 2019, Trump outlined his “strongly pro-life” views on abortion amid controversy over the Alabama Senate’s approval of a bill outlawing nearly all abortions in the state.
He added that judicial measures, such as his appointment of conservative SC judges Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, had helped to make abortion laws in various states more restrictive.
On the other hand, Republicans in Washington expressed concern over Alabama’s ban, fearing that the law was either too harsh or would be a strategically weak launching pad for overturning Roe v. Wade.
The RNC chair Ronna McDaniel also said that she personally opposed the decision.
In December 2018, Trump signed the bipartisan “First Step Act” into law; a bill to reform the federal prison system and reduce sentences for certain drug offenses.
The Act initially stalled however in the Republican-controlled Senate amid opposition from a right-wing minority faction led by Senator Cotton, a heavy critic of prisoner reformation.
Differences on social issues between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant
In May 2019, Trump outlined his “strongly pro-life” views on abortion amid controversy over the Alabama Senate’s approval of a bill outlawing nearly all abortions in the state.
In addition, a document entitled “Messaging in the Minority” was produced the same month by the Republican Study Committee (121 out of 199 Seats in the House Republican Caucus), and instructs Republicans to insist that abortion is “murder”.
Following the Alabama Senate’s decision, Democrats condemned Alabaman lawmakers an nearly every one of the 22 Democrats running for President have spoken against the measure as an unconstitutional “war on women”.
Also, in February 2019, the Democrat-dominated House passed its second bill to strengthen gun background checks.
This bill was supported by only 3 republicans and Trump promised to veto both proposals, arguing that they would restrict the rights of gun-owners.
Differences on social issues between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant (Evaluation)
In December 2018, Trump signed the bipartisan “First Step Act” into law; a bill to reform the federal prison system and reduce sentences for certain drug offenses. It received overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats.
In addition, Republicans in Washington expressed concern over Alabama’s ban, fearing that the law was either too harsh or would be a strategically weak launching pad for overturning Roe v. Wade.
The RNC chair Ronna McDaniel also said that she personally opposed the decision.
Differences on immigration between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant
The 35-day “partial” government shutdown that began in December 2018 was due to Democrats in Congress refusing to pass 25% of government spending, including $5 billion to build the US-Mexico border wall
In addition, in April 2019, Trump acknowledged planning to free immigration detainees in Sanctuary Cities (Democratic urban strongholds) as a political retaliation for the refusal of House Democrats to change the US’ “very dangerous immigration laws”. One of the areas Trump wanted to target was Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco.
Differences on immigration between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant (Evaluation)
On the other hand, in May 2019, Trump rolled out a new reform plan for immigration; a so-called merit system which would plan for more high-skilled immigration. Despite being something Republicans “could be for”, in contrast to everything they are against on immigration, this attempted bipartisan plan appeared with the aim of garnering the support of Democrats.
In addition, in 2018, the Republicans worked closely with the Democrats when Rep Senator Graham assembled a compromise with Dem Senator Durbin that would’ve given Trump $25 billion for a border wall in exchange for protections do DACA recipients.
However, Trump’s proposed merit—based failed to attract support from a single Democrat, and Trump walked away from Senator Durbin at the urging of Republican supporters who feel that DACA-is-amnesty.
Differences on foreign policy between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant
In May 2019, Trump invoked emergency powers to circumvent Congressional obstacles and give approval to 22 arms deals with Saudi Arabia worth around $8 billion.
In addition, in the wake of the Trump administration’s refusal to provide Congress with a report determining who killed the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in February 2019, Trump received backlash from the Democratic presidential candidates, like Senator Warren who criticised him for selling arms “to his Saudi buddies”.
In addition, in May 2019, Trump also deployed an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran.
The Democrats also heavily criticised this, with Beto O’Rourke warning that Trump’s actions were “provoking yet another war in the Middle East” and Senator Sanders warning that “a war with Iran would be a disaster for the region and US security”.
Differences on foreign policy between the Republican and Democratic parties are significant (Evaluation)
Democratic criticisms of Trump are arguably as hypocritical President Obama did, like Trump, follow a policy of appeasement with Saudi Arabia.
In 2016, President Obama vetoed the Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government.
In addition, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were among the leading Democrats to support Trump’s tough sanctions on Venezuela, with the bipartisan agreement that Venezuela’s socialist President Maduro must be deposed.
