If Conservatives had accomplishments, they wouldn't be so jealous of Liberals

[rdean]

There should be a "Liberal Appreciation Day" celebrated in this country considering what they have brought to America.

The very definition of "Conservative" is "fear of change". I have no doubt that without liberals, we would be theocratic English colonies with slaves.

And look at our history of Literature, Theater, Dance, Music and the other arts. The history of Art in America is almost the History of Gays. So much from such a small group of people. Look at how much America owes Alan Turing and he wasn't even American.

Our greatest institutions of higher learning, research and technology are mostly in Blue States for a reason.

Weekends, 40 hour work week, child labor laws, vacations, health care, equal pay for equal work, and all the other benefits workers get were never supported by conservatives. These have always been seen as "liberal".

And when you look at the enormous diversity within Liberals as a group, they will be a strong force far into the future. Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, gays, atheists, religious, rich, poor, scientists, teachers, straights and so on.

We really should have a "Liberal Appreciation Day". To thank Liberals for what they brought to this country in spite of so much opposition.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

like here in California.....programs started with good intent but since no one was watching over them they became bloated and out of control and were being scammed by lowlife assholes....then if someone says something about how out of control they are and we need to reign them in...they get called a racist or a uncaring asshole or in Deans case he will say how Republicans just hate the program and want to end it.....

 

[rdean]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

like here in California.....programs started with good intent but since no one was watching over them they became bloated and out of control and were being scammed by lowlife assholes....then if someone says something about how out of control they are and we need to reign them in...they get called a racist or a uncaring asshole or in Deans case he will say how Republicans just hate the program and want to end it.....

Examples?

 

[rdean]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

Another perspective is one thing. Crazy made from whole cloth is another.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Liberals gave us the Welfare State, Public Housing, Public education and voting rights for the non-living

 

[TheOldSchool]

Liberals gave us the Welfare State, Public Housing, Public education and voting rights for the non-living

And that thing you're typing on.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

programs started with good intent but since no one was watching over them they became bloated and out of control and were being scammed by lowlife assholes

The road to hell is always paved in good intentions. As it turns out, similarly, all government programs become bloated, wasteful and scammed by low-lives. Right from the start they'r always a lie and a sham.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Liberals gave us the Welfare State, Public Housing, Public education and voting rights for the non-living

And that thing you're typing on.

I would never hire a liberal as a table. They whine WAY too much as it is.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

There should be a "Liberal Appreciation Day" celebrated in this country considering what they have brought to America.

Well, you progressive authoritarians have not allowed liberals to accomplish anything in over 100 years.

 

[Iceweasel]

Thread fail. Conservativism is not fear of change, that toddler talk. Nor does it mean 'no change'. It means the reluctance to change unless you need to. And many have led the way, abolishionists were largely Christian, back in the day. Conservativism is a look before you leap philosophy. Liberals change anything they can, a leap before you look philosophy.

 

[BULLDOG]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

Republicans don't have another perspective. Back when they were an honorable party, they had another perspective. Now they have nothing but bile and obstructions. Where is a single republican perspective on anything other than opposition to Obama? It does not exist.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

Republicans don't have another perspective. Back when they were an honorable party, they had another perspective. Now they have nothing but bile and obstructions. Where is a single republican perspective on anything other than opposition to Obama? It does not exist.

Well, in rhetoric they have another perspective. But how would you know? Yuu modern day libs have been saying that line over the loud speaker every time a republican opens his mouth about anything.

 

[daws101]

Conservatives use government programs
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Hidden Federal Government Benefits [/paste:font]
Hidden Government Benefits
By SUZANNE METTLER
September 19, 2011
Ithaca, N.Y.

DON’T take at face value the claims that Americans dislike government. Sure, a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 56 percent of Americans said they wanted smaller government and fewer services.

Tea Party activists, the most vocal citizens of our time, powerfully amplify those demands. Yet the reality is that the vast majority of Americans have at some point relied on government programs — and valued them — even though they often fail to recognize that government is the source of the assistance.

A 2008 poll of 1,400 Americans by the Cornell Survey Research Institute found that when people were asked whether they had “ever used a government social program,” 57 percent said they had not. Respondents were then asked whether they had availed themselves of any of 21 different federal policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the home-mortgage-interest deduction and student loans. It turned out that 94 percent of those who had denied using programs had benefited from at least one; the average respondent had used four.

Americans often fail to recognize government’s role in society, even if they have experienced it in their own lives. That is because so much of what government does today is largely invisible.

Individuals’ political views partly account for their perceptions.

In the Cornell poll, a respondent who self-identified as “extremely liberal” was 20 percentage points more likely to acknowledge using a government program than someone who used the same number of programs but was “extremely conservative.” Also, those who believed that the nation spent too much on welfare were less likely to admit that they had used a “government social program,” perhaps because that term had pejorative connotations.

Besides political ideology, the design of policies also influences awareness.
The most visible policies are those that require people to interact frequently or intensively with public officials to qualify for benefits, like food stamps, disability payments and subsidized housing.

Another set of programs, including Medicare, Pell Grants and Social Security retirement benefits, are also fairly visible, though each contains characteristics that can camouflage government’s role.

The man at the town hall meeting in the summer of 2009 who angrily told his congressman, “Keep your government hands off my Medicare,” might have been in less of a state of denial than many believed: last year, one in four Medicare beneficiaries got their benefits through a private insurance company.

In the case of Social Security, checks are sent directly by the government, making it clear why 56 percent of beneficiaries in the Cornell poll acknowledged the use of a social program. But the denial by the remaining 44 percent is also understandable, given that individuals contributed directly from their paychecks to help finance the program. President Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted on this arrangement, knowing the benefits would be understood as an earned right. That way, he said, “no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program.”

The final group of policies, what I call the “submerged state,” is largely invisible because its benefits are channeled through the tax code and subsidies to private organizations. These include the home-mortgage-interest deduction and the exemption from taxes on employer-provided health and retirement benefits. Using “submerged” benefits is nearly as common as using more visible policies.

Even personal encounters with the submerged state fail to make most people recognize that they have benefited from government. The greater the number of visible policies an individual had used, the more likely he or she was to agree that “government programs have helped me in times of need,” but greater use of policies of the submerged state had no comparable impact.

Likewise, the greater the number of visible policies used, the higher the rate of agreement that “government has provided me opportunities to improve my standard of living”; by contrast, those who had used more submerged policies were more likely to disagree. The hidden policies left beneficiaries with the false impression that their economic security was owed merely to their own efforts.

The submerged state obscures the role of government and exaggerates that of the market. It leaves citizens unaware of the source of programs and unable to form meaningful opinions about them.

Until political leaders reveal government benefits for what they are by talking openly about them, we cannot have an honest discussion about spending, taxes or deficits. The stipulation in the new health care reform law that W-2 forms must indicate the value of untaxed employer-provided health care benefits is a step in the right direction. The government should also provide “receipts” that inform people of the size of each benefit they get through the tax code.

The threat to democracy today is not the size of government but rather the hidden form that so much of its growth has taken. If those who assume government has never helped them could see how it has, it might help defuse our polarized political climate and reinvigorate informed citizenship.

Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell, is the author of “The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy.”
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 20, 2011, on page A31 of the New York edition with the headline: Our .

Conservatives use government programs

 

[daws101]

• What are 10 major achievements by Republicans and conservatives that have had a lasting effect on our nation? Here are 10 major liberal and Democratic accomplishments:
  Social Security
  GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944)
  Electrification of rural areas
  NASA
  Medicaid/Medicare
  Clean water act
  Anti-discrimination laws
  Family Leave Act
  Federal Deposit Insurance
  Unemployment Insurance
  Winning WWII

Isn't it sad that the only way any of you can come up with any accomplishments by Conservatives is by massaging "Conservative" into "Republican"? Even then, the only things you can come up with are acts of Liberal Republicans? Then there is the tired, inaccurate description of every Government accomplishment as being a "give away"... Sorry; I paid for my Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (and part of yours as well) with every paycheck and tax return. I also paid for the highways, military, and national security, and regulatory agencies that tirelessly keep poisoners in check. There is nothing about today's GOP that is "Conservative"; attempting to destroy programs that you have already paid for to benefit their corporate cronies, irresponsible deregulation that passes the cost of businesses on to the tax payer; making it harder for "certain people" to vote; and imposing intrusive laws like drug testing for welfare recipients and mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking a completely legal medical procedure.

 

[BULLDOG]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

Republicans don't have another perspective. Back when they were an honorable party, they had another perspective. Now they have nothing but bile and obstructions. Where is a single republican perspective on anything other than opposition to Obama? It does not exist.

Well, in rhetoric they have another perspective. But how would you know? Yuu modern day libs have been saying that line over the loud speaker every time a republican opens his mouth about anything.

Because it's true. Are you saying the right has been prevented from saying what they want to say? Hell......They have the entire fox network to broadcast anything they want heard 24 hours a day. There has been no censorship of all the crazy remarks they make. What makes you think any perspective they might have has been silenced?

 

[Missouri_Mike]

Conservatives use government programs
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Hidden Federal Government Benefits [/paste:font]
Hidden Government Benefits
By SUZANNE METTLER
September 19, 2011
Ithaca, N.Y.

DON’T take at face value the claims that Americans dislike government. Sure, a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 56 percent of Americans said they wanted smaller government and fewer services.

Tea Party activists, the most vocal citizens of our time, powerfully amplify those demands. Yet the reality is that the vast majority of Americans have at some point relied on government programs — and valued them — even though they often fail to recognize that government is the source of the assistance.

A 2008 poll of 1,400 Americans by the Cornell Survey Research Institute found that when people were asked whether they had “ever used a government social program,” 57 percent said they had not. Respondents were then asked whether they had availed themselves of any of 21 different federal policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the home-mortgage-interest deduction and student loans. It turned out that 94 percent of those who had denied using programs had benefited from at least one; the average respondent had used four.

Americans often fail to recognize government’s role in society, even if they have experienced it in their own lives. That is because so much of what government does today is largely invisible.

Individuals’ political views partly account for their perceptions.

In the Cornell poll, a respondent who self-identified as “extremely liberal” was 20 percentage points more likely to acknowledge using a government program than someone who used the same number of programs but was “extremely conservative.” Also, those who believed that the nation spent too much on welfare were less likely to admit that they had used a “government social program,” perhaps because that term had pejorative connotations.

Besides political ideology, the design of policies also influences awareness.
The most visible policies are those that require people to interact frequently or intensively with public officials to qualify for benefits, like food stamps, disability payments and subsidized housing.

Another set of programs, including Medicare, Pell Grants and Social Security retirement benefits, are also fairly visible, though each contains characteristics that can camouflage government’s role.

The man at the town hall meeting in the summer of 2009 who angrily told his congressman, “Keep your government hands off my Medicare,” might have been in less of a state of denial than many believed: last year, one in four Medicare beneficiaries got their benefits through a private insurance company.

In the case of Social Security, checks are sent directly by the government, making it clear why 56 percent of beneficiaries in the Cornell poll acknowledged the use of a social program. But the denial by the remaining 44 percent is also understandable, given that individuals contributed directly from their paychecks to help finance the program. President Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted on this arrangement, knowing the benefits would be understood as an earned right. That way, he said, “no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program.”

The final group of policies, what I call the “submerged state,” is largely invisible because its benefits are channeled through the tax code and subsidies to private organizations. These include the home-mortgage-interest deduction and the exemption from taxes on employer-provided health and retirement benefits. Using “submerged” benefits is nearly as common as using more visible policies.

Even personal encounters with the submerged state fail to make most people recognize that they have benefited from government. The greater the number of visible policies an individual had used, the more likely he or she was to agree that “government programs have helped me in times of need,” but greater use of policies of the submerged state had no comparable impact.

Likewise, the greater the number of visible policies used, the higher the rate of agreement that “government has provided me opportunities to improve my standard of living”; by contrast, those who had used more submerged policies were more likely to disagree. The hidden policies left beneficiaries with the false impression that their economic security was owed merely to their own efforts.

The submerged state obscures the role of government and exaggerates that of the market. It leaves citizens unaware of the source of programs and unable to form meaningful opinions about them.

Until political leaders reveal government benefits for what they are by talking openly about them, we cannot have an honest discussion about spending, taxes or deficits. The stipulation in the new health care reform law that W-2 forms must indicate the value of untaxed employer-provided health care benefits is a step in the right direction. The government should also provide “receipts” that inform people of the size of each benefit they get through the tax code.

The threat to democracy today is not the size of government but rather the hidden form that so much of its growth has taken. If those who assume government has never helped them could see how it has, it might help defuse our polarized political climate and reinvigorate informed citizenship.

Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell, is the author of “The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy.”
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 20, 2011, on page A31 of the New York edition with the headline: Our .

Conservatives use government programs

Shorter Suzanne Mettler-

If you use the programs government forces you into paying for and using it must mean you like them.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Conservatives have their placetoo. Sometimes liberals get a little too crazy. It's not a bad thing to hear another perspective.

Republicans don't have another perspective. Back when they were an honorable party, they had another perspective. Now they have nothing but bile and obstructions. Where is a single republican perspective on anything other than opposition to Obama? It does not exist.

Well, in rhetoric they have another perspective. But how would you know? Yuu modern day libs have been saying that line over the loud speaker every time a republican opens his mouth about anything.

Because it's true. Are you saying the right has been prevented from saying what they want to say? Hell......They have the entire fox network to broadcast anything they want heard 24 hours a day. There has been no censorship of all the crazy remarks they make. What makes you think any perspective they might have has been silenced?

I would suspect you're not the type to seek out conservative/republican news based on that hate slogan in your signature, Poindexter.

 

[AvgGuyIA]

There should be a "Liberal Appreciation Day" celebrated in this country considering what they have brought to America.

The very definition of "Conservative" is "fear of change". I have no doubt that without liberals, we would be theocratic English colonies with slaves.

And look at our history of Literature, Theater, Dance, Music and the other arts. The history of Art in America is almost the History of Gays. So much from such a small group of people. Look at how much America owes Alan Turing and he wasn't even American.

Our greatest institutions of higher learning, research and technology are mostly in Blue States for a reason.

Weekends, 40 hour work week, child labor laws, vacations, health care, equal pay for equal work, and all the other benefits workers get were never supported by conservatives. These have always been seen as "liberal".

And when you look at the enormous diversity within Liberals as a group, they will be a strong force far into the future. Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, gays, atheists, religious, rich, poor, scientists, teachers, straights and so on.

We really should have a "Liberal Appreciation Day". To thank Liberals for what they brought to this country in spite of so much opposition.

How about Kiss My Conservative Ass Day, liberal?

 

[Little-Acorn]

How typical of the usual liberal fanatics, to think that government must show "accomplishments".

Government is only there to protect people's rights. Basically, to protect people from being messed with by other people.

When government does its job right, nobody notices, because there is nothing much to see. You can live your life without unjust interference from others, is all.