Mike Lofgren's The Party Is Over

Tim Dickinson published an intriguing article in the Rolling Stone, “How the GOP Became the Party of the Rich”, which scrutinizes the complicated history of the American government. Dickinson’s objective is to persuade the audience that the Republican party is giving leniency towards the upper class through the reduction of taxes, which results in the upper class becoming even more wealthy and the middle and lower classes struggling to make ends meet. He not only utilizes credible sources in order to convey the unreasonable actions of the Republican party, but also uses a multitude of historical facts pertaining to the central concept of his argument to strengthen his statement.

Democrats, better yet known as America’s modern day Republicans, were composed of “non-producers”—bankers, merchants, spectators—who sought to utilize their government affiliations to enhance their wealth. This was done at the disadvantage of the “producing classes”—farmers, artisans and laborers. The Democrats adopted a hands-off policy regarding

For many of us who would like the be called political moderates, these are troubling times. Despite the repeated calls for bipartisanship and civility, the reality is that the two parties in Congress are very far apart from each other. Not only is this the case, but it is even getting worse. Far to common are the party wars and voting along party lines even when it is their represented constituents who suffer. The days of bipartisan problem-solving seam to be nothing more than a campaign slogan tossed out by hopeful candidates and a phrase that has lost almost all meaning to a numb American public. Just how did things get to be this way? And what about the supposedly moderate public: how and why do they stand for this? To understand these questions, a good place to start is Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics, by Morris P. Fiorina, a professor of Political Science at Stanford University.

American voters are swayed heavily by their upbringing. People tend to share the same political beliefs as their parents; however, religious background gives parental influence a run for its money. In the United States, 78.3% of Americans are Christian making it the most common religious affiliation (Hackett & Grim, 2012). Christianity is rooted in truth and love— love for yourself and others. So when it comes to voting for the next president, many Christians seem to be at a crossroads, because the presidential candidates seem to lack truth, love, or even both. Both candidates use ruthless rhetoric attacking these Christian values. Hillary Clinton is portrayed as a lying murderer, while Trump is painted as a xenophobic entitled ass. Despite core Christian values differing from Donald Trump’s rhetoric, Christian voters are still choosing Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, because Republican values mirror Christian values.

As a democratic country, a general way to gauge the feelings of the public is to analyze who the public elects to represent them. While Article VI of the Constitution mandates that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States,” an overwhelming amount of American presidents have been Christians. The two exceptions to this were Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, though theistic, remain religiously ambiguous. Within the Christian presidents, the majority of those have been Episcopalian and Presbyterianism. This is despite the fact that Episcopalianism and Presbyterianism make up a relatively low percentage of the overall self-identified Christian population. Contrastingly,

Republicans and Democrats are the two main and historically largest political parties in the US and, after every election, hold the majority seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as highest number of Governors. Though both the parties mean well for the US citizens, they have distinct differences that manifest in their comments, decisions and history. These differences are mainly ideological, political, social, and economic paths to making the US a success and the world a better place for all. Differences between the two parties covered in this article are based on the majority position though individual politicians may have varied preferences.

Religion and the United States have an interesting relation over the history of the United States. Religious conservatives portray the United States as being God’s chosen nation and that religion influences every facet and procedure of the United States. Liberals try to contend that the United States is a bastion of secularization and that the founders were not particularly religious. David Sehat in his book, The Myth of American Religious Freedom, shows that religion has played a significant role in the United States, but that interaction is not always good in terms of individual actions and actually put the individuals of losing life, property and limb. Overall, Sehat’s books detail the moral establishment that was created around the time of the American Revolution and the various methods that were used in order for them to maintain their power. The book also details the way that religious and secular dissenters tried to push back against the moral establishment.

The disparity between the top income earners in the United States and everyone else is ridiculous. The rich continue to see huge increases in their income while everyone else’s rarely moves. Who is to blame for such a huge income disparity are Republicans, Democrats, neither, or maybe both? However, traditionally right wing republicans have favored reducing income taxes and corporate taxes for the top earners in the U.S. Republicans argue that Bush-era tax cuts on top earnings should be extended to stimulate the economy, while many Democrats back extensions only for lower earners(Marcia Clemmitt, 2010, para 1). While on the left side Democrats generally believe that more government spending can help bridge the gap between the rich and

Class-warfare is a term that is often thrown around by Republicans to describe any attempt to tax the upper-class, and yet Republicans and Democrats alike have found common ground when it comes to eliminating the carried-interest tax break. Recently, President Barack Obama met with Business Roundtable, an association comprising of the nation’s top CEOs, to argue his case for eliminating the prominent tax loophole. He states that the tax loophole provides no recognizable economic benefit, but instead is causing the middle-class to suffer financially as a consequence. With the current income disparity levels at record highs, the financial industry has also become the new target for many 2016 presidential nominees such as Sanders, Clinton, Bush, and Trump to name a few. So the question that begs to be answered is “will

In the United States, there is supposedly a separation between church and state. However, this seems to be untrue for many circumstances in U.S. politics. The political culture in the U.S. is infused with opinions and symbolism that show candidates/ elected officials’ adherence to religious beliefs. This is especially true when officials are campaigning for elected office. Politicians try to identify with voters’ religious beliefs, especially in local elections, where one religion may be fairly dominant. Sometimes this is a cynical pitch for votes but in other cases may represent that individual’s profound beliefs which result in their political views. This is evident through politicians trying to be photographed at religious services, with famous religious leaders, or even publicly announcing their denominational affiliations. Many of our founding documents relate in some way back to God. The official motto of the U.S. is “In God We Trust,” and it is printed on U.S. paper currency. This motto relates back to Judaism and Christianity through several bible verses. These many instances show how religion has been and continues to be used in American political life. Religion in the United States has been infused in American politics since its founding and will continue to play an influential role in American democracy even though there is this “wall of separation” between church and state.

In the article The Role of Pastors and Christians in Civil Government David Barton persuasively advocates the need for Christians to be involved in politics. As Americans, voting is a civic responsibility. For the Christian, it is a God-given command to voting stewardship. Christians who do not vote often give the excuse that they do not approve of any of the candidates that are running for office. Just because we do not agree with the choices that are listed on the ballot under the different offices, does not mean we should not vote. Voting is a responsibility and a privilege that we should not take for granted. When we as Christians do not vote, then we should not be surprised when leaders are elected that do not reflect our beliefs on the issues. If Christians want to witness a change in our country’s government and its leaders, they need to vote.

Voting patterns have found that religious identity and political identity are strongly linked, and these studies have shown that belonging to a particular religious institution influences voting for a Republican versus a Democrat. It is no secret that this nation’s politics are heavily influenced by religion. Although you can express and practice any religion you want to, the history of religious Christian symbolism have always been present. The article The Link between Voter Choice and Religious Identity in Contemporary Society: Bringing Classical Theory Back In analyzed the voter choice data from six U.S presidential elections to understand if religious identity was one of the main factors that effected a voter’s choice. The article notes that religion is only one of the main variables taken into account, other important factors include class differentiation, and gender partisanship.

Reich emphasizes on the change of the political pendulum from middle to higher class by contributions of money “With hefty campaign contributions, and platoons of lobbyist and public relations flacks, the rich helped push through legal changes that enabled them to accumulate even more income and wealth”. The changes that emerged from the new political contributions allowed the rich to pay lower income tax rates in comparison to the years of the great prosperity (1949-1971).During these years, the income tax rates for the rich were at the highest we have possibly seen. High income taxes allowed for growth in the economic opportunity. But as the separation of the poor and richer growth farther apart we face a serious problem. Regardless the rich have the advantage in political power and voice. In an NPR article, Wealthy “Elite Donors’ Fueling U.S Politics, shows some drastic statistics in rich donor “A tiny percentage of very wealthy Americans funded a relative large chunk of the 2010 congressional midterm races, continuing a trend that has been growing for two decades.” The author points out that large amount of finances during the 2010 congressional campaign were funded by the rich. This was also seen during the 2012 elections, many of the republican campaign donations came from donors who had high income. Most of these people were wealthy with corporate ties. While on the other hand, Democrats received many donations from small givers. By far most of the campaign

In this modern day, there are some people who don’t like talking about religion or relating it to certain topics. Although this may be I think that religion definitely has an important role in politics. Whatever political party your in, your beliefs have something to do with why you believe in that party. Your own religious and moral beliefs have something to do with everything you do and act upon. These decisions and opinions are important to us and they make us who we are as people. I believe it’s the right of individuals to choose what they believe in whether it be religious, spiritual or nothing at all. As for political candidates, even though I believe it’s the right of an individual to choose their beliefs, I also feel that candidates

Although the connections between religion and politics may be controversial to some, it really isn’t surprising that they overlap. For many people, religion and politics are significant parts of their ideology and morals; they both shape ethical decisions and certainly influence how we view society and the interactions within it. Politics and religion, along with ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, are important identities that shape how others see us, and how we see ourselves. Thus, it makes sense that religious beliefs may influence a person’s politics or vice versa. While I believe a mix of these identities, and thus personal experiences, has the greatest impact on politics, religion clearly is a significant influence