The Lie Must Die: Why Democrats Aren’t Just Like Republicans

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Last updated on October 3rd, 2014 at 03:27 pm

It is an election year, which means that Republicans and the emo-prog left have returned to attempt to depress Democratic voter turnout by claiming that Democrats and Republicans are the same. Today, we put a stake through the heart of a lie that must die.

Audio of the show:

Check Out Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Jason Easley and Sarah Jones on BlogTalkRadio

The false equivalency is widespread. It is a favorite tactic of conservatives that was most recently put on display by the conservative activists who are trying to get Stephen Colbert fired. It has also been employed by favorite entertainers of the left Jon Stewart and Bill Maher.

The reality is that both sides don’t act the same way. The people who trot out this excuse are looking for a reason to justify their lack of participation in the process. Some want to say that both Democrats and Republicans are owned by corporations, or business. Seventy one percent of political donations come from businesses, and 58% of those donations go to Republicans. Labor only makes up 5.4% donations, and 88% of them go to Democrats. Overall, Business donations outnumber labor by a margin of 15 to 1.

Corporate interests may want to control both parties, but it is clear that there is only one party that they own right now. All of these numbers are argument in favor of campaign finance reform and the public funding of elections.

This argument is always used every election year to discourage Democrats from showing up to vote. Both sides don’t do it, and it is time to destroy the myth that it isn’t worth participating in our electoral process.