13 Achievements Conservatives Would Roll Back

[JohnSmith2007 353]

By 2010, the Australian superannuation pool had risen to $1.17 trillion, making Australia the largest per capita holder of superannuation [retirement] funds in the world and the fourth largest in gross terms.

The sad thing is if our politicians hadn't treated the SS trust fund as their own slush fund we would have even more than that.

[Heracles 417]

The sad thing is if our politicians hadn't treated the SS trust fund as their own slush fund we would have even more than that.

I think without deducting what has been borrowed, the US has $2.5 trillion, but when you think of the size of the popualtion, that's nothing.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

I think without deducting what has been borrowed, the US has $2.5 trillion, but when you think of the size of the popualtion, that's nothing.

Plus the interest it would have drawn all these years. But it still would have been better than what we have now, which is nothing.

[Heracles 417]

Plus the interest it would have drawn all these years. But it still would have been better than what we have now, which is nothing.

The government needs to stop using it as a piggy bank trust fund. Where did you guys think the $1 trillion to $3 trillion for the Iraq/Afghan war came from? Where do you think the $1.4 trillion wasted on defense each year comes from? These defense contractors are making out like a bandits, while America falls into second world status. By definition, already third world in various neighborhoods.

The best way to get anything on budget is to close all tax loopholes. Also implement the proven and successful federal GST/VAT sales tax rather than this silly states sales tax, which currently results in tens of billions lost in the black market or by interstate trade.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Heracles

[mawilson 2,133]

Since President Obama's election, Fox personalities have expressed opposition to or called for the repeal of virtually every progressive achievement of the 20th century, including Social Security, Medicare, the Americans with Disabilities Act, portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the 16th and 17th Amendments to the Constitution.

1. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

Social Security is a federal social insurance program funded through payroll taxes that provides benefits to the elderly and disabled and their survivors. It was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. Medicare and Medicaid were established by the Social Security Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. They provide health insurance to the elderly and the poor. All three programs have been defended by progressives and opposed by conservatives for decades.

2. 17th Amendment

The 17th Amendment provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators, rather than their selection by state legislators. It was passed by Congress with the support of progressives and submitted to the states in 1912 under President William Howard Taft. It was ratified under President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Recently, tea party activists and Republican members of Congress have called for its repeal.

3. 16th Amendment

The 16th Amendment allows Congress to collect income taxes. It was passed by Congress and submitted to the states in 1909 and ratified in 1913, both under President Taft. Republican congressmen have called for the amendment's repeal.

4. Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), originally sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and then-Representative Tony Coehlo (D-CA) and signed by President George H.W. Bush, "prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities." Recently, it has been attacked by conservative pundits and candidates.

5. Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 — signed by President Lyndon Johnson and opposed by then-Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater — "prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal."

6. Voting Rights Act of 1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Johnson after he "issued a call for a strong voting rights law," outlawed a number of discriminatory voting practices, including requiring literacy tests as a prerequisite for voting.

7. Nuclear arms control

For decades, presidents of both parties negotiated and signed treaties with the Soviet Union (later Russia) to reduce the nuclear arsenals of both nations. President Ronald Reagan, who signed the START I treaty, repeatedly stated that his "ultimate goal" was the "total elimination of nuclear weapons." More recently, conservatives have panned President Obama's new START treaty, which would further reduce nuclear arsenals, and even questioned the importance of nuclear reductions in the first place.

8. Abortion rights

In the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court held that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and in the second and third trimesters under certain circumstances. Since then, progressives have traditionally argued in favor of the decision and the right it preserved, while conservatives have opposed it.

9. Labor unions

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act "to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices." Labor unions have long been part of the progressive coalition, while conservatives have worked to limit their right to bargain collectively.

10. Department of Education

The Department of Education was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and serves to "to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Conservatives have long called for the Department's dissolution.

11. Unemployment insurance

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act, signed by President Roosevelt in 1939, together with the Social Security Act of 1935, established the modern U.S. system of unemployment insurance, in which employers pay payroll taxes to the federal and state governments which are used by the states to finance benefits to those who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Conservatives have often attacked the system of unemployment insurance as well as those who receive unemployment benefits.

12. Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 under President Richard Nixon and works to "protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water and land — upon which life depends." Its work has long been opposed by conservatives.

13. Progressive taxation

Liberals traditionally support progressive taxation, in which those with less income are taxed at a lower rate than those with higher incomes. Conservatives have opposed that system of taxation in favor of "flat taxes" in which everyone pays the same tax rate.

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I'd keep all of the above, except the Department of Education, which has to go.

It serves no useful purpose other than being a colossal, inefficient, money-sucking bureaucracy:

[evli1966 88]

I agree that SS should be absolutely out of bounds as a source of money for politicians to spend. That said, I'm not sure that putting SS funds in the hands of Wall Street is all that great an idea. You always talk about how horrible the American underclass is, well don't forget that our elites are in a class of their own too. This isn't Australia. Our elites are shitty people.

By 2010, the Australian superannuation pool had risen to $1.17 trillion, making Australia the largest per capita holder of superannuation [retirement] funds in the world and the fourth largest in gross terms.

It is typically the rich and weak that fall first.

It is nice Aus has been able to do this but having such a cut off country you do nto have mass Illegals stripping you.

The sad thing is if our politicians hadn't treated the SS trust fund as their own slush fund we would have even more than that.

I think without deducting what has been borrowed, the US has $2.5 trillion, but when you think of the size of the popualtion, that's nothing.

Again something to be said about size of country and what borders you.

The government needs to stop using it as a piggy bank trust fund. Where did you guys think the $1 trillion to $3 trillion for the Iraq/Afghan war came from? Where do you think the $1.4 trillion wasted on defense each year comes from? These defense contractors are making out like a bandits, while America falls into second world status. By definition, already third world in various neighborhoods.

The best way to get anything on budget is to close all tax loopholes. Also implement the proven and successful federal GST/VAT sales tax rather than this silly states sales tax, which currently results in tens of billions lost in the black market or by interstate trade.

I'd keep all of the above, except the Department of Education, which has to go.

It serves no useful purpose other than being a colossal, inefficient, money-sucking bureaucracy:

Darn Wilson

You has Sexy posts when you are dead on.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The tea party nuts might be talking about those things, but that's because they are poorly educated extremists. I doubt that there is any mainstream traction for those things.