The anti-choice Democrats

As Americans in Georgia and across the country begin to go to the polls (in Georgia early voting starts October 15) they should consider the freedom of choice and which party and candidate will really support their right to choose. Although the Democrats have traditionally assumed the mantle of “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion, there are many other issues on which the right of Americans to make choices for themselves is at stake.

One of the most obvious areas of concern this year is the right for Americans to make their own choices about health insurance. Even though President Obama has repeatedly (and as late as the first debate on October 3) said that Americans could keep their own health insurance if they liked their current plan, in reality Obamacare takes away the right to choose to self-insure or purchase a no-frills, high deductible policy. Under the president’s health care law, the federal government has the right to dictate the terms of health insurance policies that all Americans are now required to purchase. The law also provides a powerful incentive for companies to drop their group health plans and leave employees to purchase their own insurance on Obamacare’s exchanges.

Freedom of choice in Medicare is also at stake this November. President Obama and the Democrats oppose allowing seniors to choose private insurance policies subsidized by government price supports, which Obama derided in the debate as vouchers. Instead, the Democrats support the current system in which all seniors are forced into the government-run Medicare program in spite of the fact that fewer and fewer doctors accept the government insurance because its reimbursement rates are so far below the market prices for care. The problem will undoubtedly get worse as Obamacare forces an additional $700 billion in cuts on the Medicare program.

Yet another issue of health care choice is the Obama Administration’s mandate that all insurance policies cover contraceptive and abortifacient drugs. Regardless of whether a person wants or needs such coverage, all insurance policies must now include these drugs at no out-of-pocket cost. The effect is that the cost of these services is now included in the policy premium, contributing to the rising cost of health insurance. The choice to opt out of these coverages for religious reasons or personal preference is forbidden.

The mandate also applies regardless of whether the policy holder or insurance company believes that abortion and contraception is moral. There was a narrow exemption for churches, but not other religious organizations or individual religious believers. President Obama offered a further compromise that religious organizations would have to accept the coverages, but at no cost. The cost would be passed along to other insureds, again causing policy premiums to rise.

The freedom to choose your child’s school is also at issue. Most Democrats do not support school vouchers or school choice, largely due to the fact that the party is beholden to teacher’s unions. The recent Chicago teacher strike was not only about money; it was also about keeping bad teachers from being held accountable. Under the status quo, children are assigned to schools based on their residence, regardless of whether that school is failing or meets their needs. In several cases, parents have been arrested for sending their children to better schools outside their district.

In areas where parent trigger laws allow parents to fire school administrators and turn failing schools into charter schools, Democrat-supported unions wage wars of harassment on parents rather than surrender control of schools, even though some Democratic politicians and a large majority of voters support the trigger laws. Harassment of parents and endless legal wrangling effectively negate parental choice.

An old issue of choice is the choice to own a gun. Even though the Supreme Court has upheld the individual right to keep and bear arms, with every high profile shooting or terrorist attack Democratic operatives reiterate calls for gun control. Democrats and gun opponents have called to eliminate the freedom of choice to purchase handguns, semi-automatic weapons, assault weapons, guns that look like military weapons, magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and ammunition.

The Democratic anti-choice tendencies extend even to mundane household items. In 2007, the Democratic congress banned incandescent light bulbs. The infamous light bulb ban prompted the closure of several U.S. factories that produced incandescent bulbs and forced Americans to purchase expensive and potentially hazardous compact fluorescent bulbs.

The lists of products that liberal Democrats oppose or want to force Americans to buy are long. In either case, it conflicts with the basic freedom of choice. Liberals have opposed the freedom to buy gas guzzling SUVs, soft drinks, chocolate milk, and coal-based electricity among other things. Conversely, they have favored forcing people to purchase health insurance, ethanol-based fuels, trigger locks, hybrid cars and to ride trains instead of driving. They also support government monopolies on health care, Social Security, college loans, and who knows what else.

On social issues, the Democrats also oppose choice that conflicts with liberal orthodoxy. It is now taboo and bigoted to be a supporter of traditional marriage as Chick-fil-a CEO Dan Cathy discovered. Likewise, Democrats and liberals have little tolerance for those who revere life over abortion. Democrats even favor disclosure of the names of petition signers and donors to opposition groups so they can be singled out for partisan attacks and intimidation.

Perhaps the most telling difference between the Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats oppose giving Americans the choice of how to spend their own money. This is true on two levels. As given in the above examples, Democrats are more than happy to mandate that all Americans spend money on products that Democrats believe they should buy.

On another level, Democrats want to spend Americans’ money through higher taxes. After four years, President Obama’s only real plan to heal the economy and close the deficit is by raising taxes. If taxes go up it is axiomatic that there will be less money left in their paycheck to take home. The increased taxes will go directly to support federal spending at the cost of the spending power of individual Americans.

It isn’t even a question of whether President Obama will raise taxes on just the rich or the middle class as well. He already has raised taxes on the middle class numerous times. Obamacare is a bundle of tax increases masquerading as a health care law. Americans for Tax Reform has compiled a list of 21 new or higher taxes that President Obama has signed into law. Many of these taxes fall directly on the middle class. Many are part of Obamacare.

In the end, the anti-choice positions of liberals and Democrats underscore the fundamental difference between the parties. Conservative Republicans believe that people should be free to make their own decisions about what is best for their life as long as it does not hurt others. This position accepts that sometimes people will make mistakes and bad decisions. If people aren’t free to fail, then they aren’t really free.

To the contrary, leftists believe that, left to the own devices, people will not make the best decision. They believe that, because people cannot be trusted to do what is best for themselves, that government experts must tell them what to do and force them to do it. They also believe that, if necessary, people who do not comply should be punished… for their own good.

Originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-anti-choice-democratic-party-1?cid=db_articles

The Party of Choice

Since the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, “choice” has become a code word for abortion rights. Politicians and pro-abortion interest groups speak of “a woman’s right to choose” in lieu of naming abortion explicitly. Democrats are the primary supporter of the abortion choice and are quick to label pro-life politicians as “anti-choice.” But when the right to choose is expanded to other issues the Democrats do not necessarily champion the freedom of choice.

A fundamental choice that Americans can make is the choice of how to spend the money that they earn. On this issue, the issue of how much the government takes in taxes, the Democrats are solidly anti-choice. Democratic politicians have repeatedly favored heavier taxes in a variety of forms, including income taxes, gas taxes, as well as taxes on dividends, capital gains, and the estates of deceased people, who, in turn, have paid taxes all of their lives. Democrats almost uniformly reject President Bush’s across-the-board tax cuts as “a tax cut for the rich” and plan to let them expire. By supporting higher taxes, Democrats take the freedom of choice in spending away from ordinary Americans.

A second choice that Americans make is the choice to decide what to do their own property. Private property rights face an assault on two fronts: eminent domain and environmental legislation. Eminent domain means that the government can take private property for public use if the property owner is compensated. This was traditionally held to mean that the government could seize private property to build roads, schools, and other projects that benefit the public at large. This changed in 2005 with the Kelo v. New London decision, which held that public benefit could mean nothing more than increased tax revenues. This means that virtually no private property in the United States is safe from an alliance of developers and tax-hungry local governments. The liberal (activist) wing of the Court voted for the decision, while the conservative (constructionist) dissented.

The second assault on private property is through environmental laws, which allow the government to render private property unusable without compensation. This is commonly accomplished by declaring areas as protected wetlands. In many cases, a small drainage ditch or wet weather stream is designated a wetland. In other cases, protected species, such as the snail darter, are found on private property. In either case, restrictions are placed on the use of the property. Often the property owner can neither use the land nor sell it due to the government restrictions. Of course, the government does not compensate the property owner. The Democratic Party is beholden to the radical environmental groups that support these laws.

Education is another area where choice is limited as a result of Democratic activism. As public schools in many areas decline, many parents would appreciate the opportunity to send their children to private schools where they can receive a better education. In most areas, schools are supported by property taxes. Parents must continue to pay property taxes and support public schools, even if their children attend private schools. In effect, parents must pay twice for their child’s education. This puts private schools out of reach for many families. An answer to this problem is by providing school vouchers that would allow parents credit for tuition at the school of their choice. Unfortunately, teacher’s unions that support the Democratic Party oppose school vouchers.

Additionally, parents have little control over the curriculum that their children are taught in public schools. Many schools teach things that many parents find offensive. These lessons often teach a view of issues such as sexuality, religion, or even American history that is contrary to the beliefs of the family. Parents often find it difficult to know what their children are being taught. If they find that their children are being taught something contrary to their beliefs, it can be even more difficult to prevent their child from being exposed to these lessons.

Gun ownership is another choice that Democrats would take away from Americans. The most restrictive gun laws in the United States are found in Democratic strongholds such as the District of Columbia, Illinois, New York, and California. In 2008, the Supreme Court overturned the gun ban in the District of Columbia. This ban, the most restrictive in the country, was deemed constitutional and sensible by Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. Contrary to the Court’s opinion, many Democrats believe that the second amendment applies to government militias and not individuals.

A telling example of the Democratic Party’s anti-choice attitudes is the belief that the US government should force all Americans to purchase health insurance from the government. Government mandates for coverage have made affordable basic health insurance hard to find in many states. Popular Democratic plans would mandate that all Americans obtain coverage through single-payer government plans. This is regardless of whether an individual believes that they need, want, or can afford health coverage. Under current law, people who cannot afford health insurance do not have to purchase it, but can still receive medical treatment from hospital emergency rooms. Under a single-payer system, mandatory taxes would pay for a national health care system, eliminating the freedom to choose to self-insure.

A final example of Democratic anti-choice is their proposed energy policy. Current high oil prices have convinced a majority of Americans that domestic drilling should be expanded to bring additional supplies of oil into the marketplace. Democratic leaders, however, support an extension of the bans on drilling in ANWR and on the continental shelf. Keeping the bans in place means that states are not allowed to choose to exploit a valuable natural resource.

Instead, the Democrats pursue solutions that remove choice from the marketplace. One example is the Renewable Fuels Standard passed in 2007, which sharply increased the amount of ethanol required in US gasoline. Not only did this legislation do nothing to lower gas prices, by creating an artificial demand for corn, it also caused higher food prices and shortages around the world.

Other Democratic energy proposals are similarly focused on top-down mandates. Ideas include restrictions on investing in commodities futures, requirements for investing in alternative fuels, mandates for increased auto fuel economy, and a complex system of taxes on carbon use. One proposal by the California Energy Commission would even require Californians to place a radio-controlled thermostat in new buildings that would enable the government to remotely control the temperature to save energy!

Democrats may claim to be pro-choice, but on most issues their policies would take choice away from Americans and place it in the hands of the government. Allowing individuals to choose how to spend their money and time means that some people will make poor choices, but most will make the choice that best suits their own life.