Since the Republican controlled House of Representatives gave themselves a two month vacation (and then the Senate followed suit) to campaign, this seems like a good time to think about who they really are.
The consensus today is that all politicians are alike. They can’t be trusted, usually do what’s good for them instead of what’s good for the country, and are beholding to big money.
I confess to sharing the cynicism this view of them represents…except for one thing.
Not all politicians are alike.
They may all be crooks, dishonest, can’t be trusted, but they are far from all being alike.
The reason is pretty simple. They hold very different beliefs about the role of government and the kinds of laws we should have.
To see how true this is, compare the things conservative politicians believe in and support in contrast to what progressive politicians believe in and support.
Below is a list of conservative beliefs and policies.
1) an unregulated free market
2) tax loopholes for big business
3) tax breaks for the richest of the rich
4) cutting social program/increasing Pentagon Spending
5) no capital gains tax
6) no Wall Street reform
7) defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
8) cutting Food Stamps
9) limiting unemployment compensation during high unemployment
10) turning social security into a system of private investments
11) turning Medicare into a voucher system with defined (limited) benefits
12) eliminating Medicaid
13) repealing Obamacare
14) requiring drug testing for welfare recipients
15) imposing voter registration restrictions
16) restricting the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body
17) denying civil liberties to gay and lesbian Americans such as marriage
18) denying any woman who is native American, an immigrant, or GLBT protection under the violence Against Women Act passed in 1994 and renewed in 2014.
19) rejecting science as a guide to public policies
20) insisting evidence of the human imprint on climate change is a hoax
Nothing on the list has been made up or embellished. It’s all in the public record.
And not one of these positions is supported by any progressive politician. Not one.
So this much is clear. It is simply not true that all politicians are the same.
So in this election year, it seems to me that before we vote for anybody we should remember one simple truth…politicians are far from all being alike.
linnposts.com 
A helpful perspective in a pessimistic time. Thanks!
Thank you, Wayne. Good to hear from you.
As an idea, Capitalism works wonderfully. As an ideology, as you have outlined it, Jan, it’s an unmitigated disaster. And despite all the evidence that’s plain to see, people who should know better go on believing it.
There’s a difference between an idea and an ideology. Ideas are malleable and allow for the impact of reality upon them. Ideologies are equal and opposite reactions to other ideologies (e.g. communism), and like the ideology they oppose, can’t change.
With particular reference to point 20 above, nations such as the Netherlands invest large amounts of tax money in flood defences and land drainage in the light of painstaking scientific research. The topography of that country ill affords them the luxury of making mistakes when facing the problems caused by rising sea levels. The price paid by New Orleans after neglecting its sea defences 9 years ago speaks volumes. Floods can neither be prayed away or left for the self-adjusting mechanism of the “free” market to sort out.
This is a very helpful comment, Nigel. It puts our economics here in a much larger context. Thank you.
And yet MANY people vote for those conservatives! Why? I don’t get it
Especially people who are middle class.