Why has the Democratic Party moved so far to the left?

since the USSR broke up the communist found a new home in the democrat party.

nearly every statement in the post above is, factually speaking, dead wrong.

Below, IN CAPS, is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the post.

"The Democratic Party, in the time of JFK, was like a present Republican Party. Democrats, such as JFK, then favored much less taxes, and were not so pro-big government."

FALSE. KENNEDY CUT THE TOP TAX RATE FROM 90 PERCENT TO 70 PERCENT. TODAY, THE TOP TAX RATE IS UNDER 40 PERCENT. THUS, THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT JFK WOULD FAVOR TAX RATES AS LOW AS TODAY'S.

JFK said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Modern Democrats believe that the government should give everything to everyone, tax the rich, and everyone will live happily ever after. The only problem is that economics doesn't work like that. Less taxes yields higher revenues to the government.

REALLY? WHY DON'T WE JUST ABOLISH TAXES THEN?

BUT SERIOUSLY, TAX REVENUE HAS BEEN HIGHER ALMOST EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHETHER TAXES ARE RAISED OR LOWERED.

BUT IF YOU LOOK AT GROWTH OF TAX REVENUE, TAX REVENUE GREW FASTER UNDER CLINTON.

UNDER TAX-RAISING CLINTON, FEDERAL REVENUES GREW FROM 1.1 TRILLION TO 1.9, ABOUT A 80 PERCENT INCREASE.

UNDER BUSH, FEDERAL REVENUES GREW FROM 1.9 TO 2.7, ABOUT A 45 PERCENT INCREASE.

IF YOU LOOK AT INCOME TAXES, THE ONLY TAX BUSH CUT MUCH, THE DIFFERENCE IS EVEN GREATER. INCOME TAX REVENUES NEARLY DOUBLED UNDER CLINTON (509 BILLION TO 994 BILLION) WHILE UNDER BUSH THEY INCREASED BY ONLY A THIRD (TO 1.3 TRILLION).

I was a Democrat in the 1980s and early 1990s because it was a relatively centrist party. However, I became a Republican quickly after the Bill Clinton presidency after I saw what the Democrats were voting for in the senate.

THE NOTION THAT THE DEMOCRATS WERE MORE "CENTRIST" UNDER WALTER MONDALE AND MICHAEL DUKAKIS THAN UNDER BILL CLINTON IS SIMPLY STARK RAVING MAD. CLINTON FAVORED THE DEATH PENALTY; DUKAKIS FAVORED GIVING LIFER WILLIE HORTON WEEKEND FURLOUGHS SO HE COULD KILL MORE PEOPLE. CLINTON ACTUALLY BALANCED THE BUDGET- COULD YOU IMAGINE MONDALE OR DUKAKIS DOING THE SAME? CLINTON REDUCED GOVT. SPENDING AS A PERCENT OF GNP (FROM 21 PERCENT TO LESS THAN 19), UNLIKE BUSH. CAN YOU IMAGINE DUKAKIS OR MONDALE DOING THE SAME?

So why has the Democratic Party turned into such a dump? What influenced it to move to the far left of the political spectrum? Zell Miller, a conservative Democrat, tried to restore the Democratic Party back to its old self, but failed to do so.

Bill Clinton was a centrist, have you ever heard of the DLC? The Democrats moved to the right because Reagan kept winning and then Bush Sr won. JFK was to the left of Clinton and Obama, he was much more pro-labor and pro-union. The Democratic party is a shadow of it's former self.

Really? I've always wondered why republicans call democrats liberal.

As to the tax stuff you are talking about. Lowering taxes doesn't bring in more revenue. The maximum revenue comes when people are least afraid to spend money and the minimum when the people are the most afraid to spend money. Taxes have to been put at a balance between them and moved lower when the economy is in trouble and higher when the economy is doing well. There is no one action or set spot you can just leave it and make things better.

The whole country is moving left, fortunately. Americans want better education, retirement, housing and now, health care and they want government to play a leading role. Repubs, typically, are too slow to respond to the will of the people and that's why we kicked their butts in '06 and are about to do it again this year and take back the White House!

You are right, both parties, are not what they were 10-15 years ago. I was always a democrat like the rest of family, but the 10-15 years ago, we just became republicans because I have moral values and I dont think it is right to be living off the gov. for the rest of your life and taxpayers have to pay for it. You should get like 6mos. of food stamps/welfare and that's it!!!! Not to take advantage of the system, but that's what the democrats want. They want to take full control of everybody. It's sad for the people who dont know the truth.

Eight years of arrogant, ridiculous conservativism that has driven this great country into the dirt has probably help the shift to the left in both the democratic AND republican parties.

Because the LEADERSHIP of the party had moved to the left. As the old adage goes... "Where the head goes, the body will follow"... referring to a SNAKE of course!

Have a right-wing day.

The Republicans are also moving to the left. A McCain/Lieberman ticket is very possible.

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the media has moved to the right

the internet has moved us too the left as people become aware of more information

defining the left and right is somewhat difficult as it seems many do not know where they stand but associate themselves with a side

there is only one thing that matters......

do we allow the elite to have more control of the wealth or less?

do we allow them to abuse the people or allow the people a govt to protect them?

it seems the rest is fluff

Because it has been infiltrated by the communist party who found that they make much bigger strides in the Democrat party and calling themselves "progressives".