Not voting or voting GOP is a vote for corprate oligarchy over democracy.

[grahamhgreen]

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/2iy74u/fellow_americans_understand_this_were_in_a_class/

Non-participation is a vote for the corporate agenda for America

To those Americans, who don't plan to vote in a few weeks, please, please participate in your civics. Your country needs your engaged, self-interested participation. Right now the status quo don't need to take into consideration. To the extent that you don't oppose them and their corporate agenda, they can gain an even greater foothold in our democracy. Case in point, the last midterm election (2010): The folk who were animated and showed up to the polls were folks mobilized by all that newly available corporate agenda money via the January Citizen's United ruling. The lack of engagement and voting by democrats who apparently didn't think their majorities in the congress were worth protecting is the reason we now have the ridiculous obstruction we've been living under these last four years.

Here's a secret: Cold hard evidence that civic engagement helps the average guy get to a better quality of life. I would maintain that self-interested voting is a lynchpin in that equation as well. Even if you're engaged, you need to be engaged in voting for what you want and need for those things to be given priority.

A vote for the GOP is a vote for the corporate agenda for America

Both parties are clearly in bed with corporate america, so how can I say this? One party supports unions, raising the minimum wage, and wage equality for women the other doesn't. One party supports the right for women to family plan and the other doesn't. One party wants immigration reform and the other doesn't. One party refuses to raise taxes to pay down our 17 trillion in debt and blocks every attempt to do so. One party attempted to keep America from the joining the ranks of every other 1st world nation in having universal healthcare coverage for it's citizens, the other one enacted and defended that. Generally speaking, democrats own the safety net. They have defended it and strengthened it for 100 years. That having a safety net in America makes you hated by conservatives when it is literally the source of happiness and quality of life for people all over the free world is a mystery to me.

Each of these GOP positions hurts citizens but helps corporations. My reasoning is that putting dems in right now (how things were in 08) gets us back to sanity. It also sends the message that obstruction should be a losing not a winning strategy to the GOP. Their obstruction has cost this country 1 to 3 million jobs in our tepid recovery and it needs to be punished.

Am I blindly partisan? Is this yet another reddit "democratic circlejerk"?

[Thinkingabout]

1. K & R, a very good explanation of what we are facing, we cant change things overnight

But we can make strides in our direction. One issue we need to seriously consider is Supreme Court nominations, with Republicans having the opportunity to place justices at will we now have a SC going against Democrat issues. We sweated the ruling on ACA, right now it is an issue of same sex marriages and voter ID, it could go against us. We also need control of the Senate in case a nomination be needed. This is not a game. The GOP would love to overturn Roe vs. Wade, we have to remain strong. GOTV!!!!

[wandy]

2. VOTE, while you are still allowed to...................

As if gerrymandering were not intervention enough, in a many of GOP controlled states significant effort is being expended to limit the vote by the resurrection of Jim Crow.

You may belong to the next group to who's ability to vote is threatened.

[hifiguy]

3. I have a governor (Dayton) and a Senator (Franken) to re-elect

here in MN. No chance of my passing up the election.

Though at the national level if voting could result in real systemic change it clearly would not be allowed.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. ,

,

[emulatorloo]

5. Rec and thanks for posting.

Well reasoned argument that a few DU'ers need to hear.

[Jim Lane]

6. And the same is true of those voting for no-hoper third-party candidates. (n/t)

[Warren Stupidity]

7. True, unfortunately voting Democratic is also, for the most part, voting for

corporate oligarchy over democracy. Both parties are largely beholden to big money, to the pervasive corruption. We get policies a bit to the left of far right with the Democrats, but with both parties we get what the Powers That Be want. So we get Republican Health Care instead of Medicare for All, for example. Until the money gets wrung out, nothing much is going to change.

[colsohlibgal]

8. Pretty Much Agree

Voting for the democrat is way too often voting for oligarchy light. We need way more real democrats like Elizabeth Warren and less "neo liberals" - which is code for republican lite and often not particularly lite.

Bill Clinton did away with Glass Steagall and welfare as we knew it. He pushed for NAFTA and other similar trade agreements. Bubba has always talked a good game but didn't back a lot of it up. Obama kind of used him as a template - run as a progressive than head to Rahm Emmanuel neo land.

[Mister Nightowl]

9. K&R