Quick, tell me just 1 thing that the Republicans have done for you in the last 50 years!!!

[Major Hogwash]

Right off of the top of your head, tell me what ANY Republican in elected office did for you.

[peacebird]

1. Pissed me off....

[madokie]

3. Only one I can come up with

and a bunch of those too

[Demonaut]

2. EPA?

[HereSince1628]

5. Beat me to it. so I'll say appointment of Ruckleshaus as its first head

Can't fault Nixon on that one.

[KingCharlemagne]

23. They don't make Republicans like Eliot Richardson and William

Rucklshaus any more, do they? Your mention of the latter's career as first head of EPA triggered my memories of the infamous Saturday Night Massacre, when a couple Republicans stood up for the Separation of Powers. (That freak Robert Bork was the one who eventually agreed to fire Special Prosecutor Cox.)

[LawDeeDah]

4. They have provided some great entertainment

although most of it was like a horror show, some of it was so goofy you had to bust guts laughing.

[Kalidurga]

6. well I can't think of anything they have done for me, but they have done plenty

obstructed civil rights
made bigger holes in the safety net
obstructed raising the minimum wage
raised taxes on the middle class
lowered taxes on the rich
they make it harder for women to exercise their reproductive rights
opposed the ERA
grew the MIC
made ketchup a vegetable (neat trick for a fruit)
reduced the effectiveness of the EPA
demonizes the poor
demonizes women
demonizes immigrants even legal ones
demonizes minorities
demonizes people with mental illness and people with disabilities
militarized LE agencies
privatized prisons
funnelling money from public schools to charter schools
got schools to buy textbooks from Texas

[Arugula Latte]

7. Instantly turned me into a liberal at age 14.

Thanks, Reagan!

[Paper Roses]

8. Other than giving me a headache, nothing! n/t

[Journeyman]

9. Clean Water Act (1972). . .

[Historic NY]

16. but they sure like muddying it up

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/04/clean-water-act-expansion_n_5088723.html

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116218/spending-bill-january-2014-irony-house-gop-and-west-virginia-water

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/07/republicans-move-gut-clean-water-act

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/10/1328603/-35-Democrats-Join-House-GOP-to-Weaken-the-Clean-Water-Act

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/28/john-barrasso-epa_n_5540263.html

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/17/republican-assault-clean-water-laws-caused-west-virginia-chemical-spill.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/07/09/house_science_committee_epa_clean_water_act_hearing_republicans_see_attempts.html

[Johonny]

35. Vetoed by President Richard Nixon on October 17, 1972-so nope to that one

The override in the Senate was passed thanks to Republicans mostly not voting at all. I guess so as not to embarrass Nixon since there was so little objection to clear water.

[Cleita]

10. Rephrase that to what they have done to me and I can give

you a laundry list.

[Historic NY]

11. made me poorer....

because they transfer wealth to the rich with any manner of schemes or devices.

[shanti]

22. my thoughts exactly n/t

[FreeJoe]

12. Speed limit

Didn't they end the 55mph speed limit?

[Gman]

13. Bush I signed the ADA

[Algernon Moncrieff]

21. To be clear - HW Bush

Not his son, Chimpy

[loyalsister]

57. Junior signed the ADA amendments

It's far from perfect, but there are good things about the ADA.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

59. You'll get no argument from me

However, I remember my boss in '92 (a winger, to be sure) complaining that HW "let the side down" by signing the ADA.

Bush Jr. signed the bill allowing 529 benefits to be distributed tax free. As the father of a college student, I'm thankful.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. They are top providers of raw material used in the vital political humor industry.

That's all I could come up with without using the term 'lying in state' so that's what I'm going with.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

15. Raised my blood-pressure!

[unblock]

17. epa, osha, ssi, ada, john paul stevens

you'll notice that these are all pretty old....

[oldandhappy]

18. Well...

Nixon made me a Democrat. Thanks

Bush gave us Plan D for pills. I don't use it but thanks.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

19. Off the top of my head, Medicare D

(The drug benefit)

Also, tax-free distributions from 529 plans is another thing I can thank Republicans for.

[KingCharlemagne]

20. Well, back in August 1974, Barry Goldwater told Nixon he had to go. Not

sure that counts and it's a sorry record if that's all I can come up with

[bigwillq]

24. They gave us Elizabeth Warren (nt)

[ChisolmTrailDem]

61. Good! Now I can vote for her in the primaries and then for president. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

25. brought on extreme nausea

[Brigid]

26. I assume you mean positive and constructive things.

In that case, Nothing. Nada. El zilcho. Inocents. Rien. You get the idea.

[Joe Turner]

27. Did to you is the better question.

And there is list is long and exhaustive.

[lpbk2713]

28. Exposed themselves as thieves and liars over and over again.

If nothing else they excel at being good bad examples.

[damyank913]

29. They supplied SNL and Jon Stewart with the likes of Dubya, Sarah Palin, Beck...

...the list goes on and on.

[Rhinodawg]

30. They ran morons like McLame and Mittens.

[Ms. Toad]

31. Souter & Stevens. n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

47. Souter was an accident, Stevens was when the GOP was at its lowest point in decades

The GOP wouldn't have consciously put either of those two on the bench under ideal circumstances.

[Ms. Toad]

50. Aside from the fact that I responded with two good things elected republicans have done

Both Souter and Stevens matured, and grew more liberal, on the bench. Until very recently, that has been the pattern.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

32. Good for me personally but bad for the country

Cut my income taxes. Not by a lot, but some.

[SheilaT]

33. Made me all the more determined to vote for Democrats.

Especially after doing some lobbying on Capitol Hill on behalf the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, and was invariably treated like pond scum in the offices of Republican Senators or Representatives, and listened to respectfully in the Democratic offices.

I've done that bit of lobbying several times now, and it's quite amazing the difference in how the two parties treat a totally non-partisan thing like that.

[1StrongBlackMan]

34. Convinced me that voting straight "D" ...

Is a good idea?

[oberliner]

36. I think Bush sent me a tax rebate in 2008

That was pretty exciting.

[footinmouth]

37. The 2012 Primary Debates

Hours and hours of free entertainment. Just too many highlights to mention.

[zappaman]

38. They turned me into a newt!

[GeorgeGist]

39. Medicare Part D

[Cha]

44. That they didn't pay for.

[brooklynite]

40. Republicans in NYS got marriage equality passed...after 2 years of Democratic control could not

Plenty of things to be pissed with national Republicans over; insinuation that ALL Republicans are bad is a stretch.

[RB TexLa]

41. Health Savings Accounts. Allows me to put money away tax free for health care costs

instead of paying them toward premiums. If you are healthy, male and not paying for health care for children it's great, significantly cuts what I pay to the insurance company and whatever in the account I don't use at 65 can pull it out tax free or keep it there for medical costs after age 65.

[AnalystInParadise]

42. Kept me employed

through their terrible foreign policy decisions?

[Brother Buzz]

43. The Endangered Species Act of 1973

In 1972, President Nixon declared that conservation efforts in the United States aimed toward preventing the extinction of species were inadequate and called on the 93rd Congress to develop comprehensive endangered species legislation. Congress responded, and on December 28th, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was signed into law.

Then republican, Pete McCloskey gets high marks for spearheading the legislation. Heck, he gets high marks for turning away from the republican party in 2007 and calling a pox on them and their values, too.

[bluedigger]

45. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R) gave my mother a pair of baby shoes for me in 1960.

Oh wait, that was 54 years ago.











Nope, I got nothing.

[Hippo_Tron]

46. Lots of examples in this thread of bills authored by Democratic congresses...

Signed by Republican Presidents. And arguably those Republican Presidents were going along to get along.

A better question would be to name a good piece of legislation passed by a Republican congress in the last 50 years.

[Major Hogwash]

56. ^^This = the correct answer!!^^ Yeah, you noticed that too, huh?

A better question would be to name a good piece of legislation passed by a Republican congress in the last 50 years.

If I would have asked that question, there wouldn't have been ANY replies!!

[Hippo_Tron]

63. Yep, it's why I think it's disingenuous to credit Nixon with the EPA...

Nixon didn't become President to create the EPA. He became President to drop bombs on people in Asia, stir up the fears of white people at home, and use law enforcement to punish hippies and blacks.

Every single piece of progressive legislation that he put his name on had an ulterior motive. He wanted the Democratic congress to go along with his agenda on crime and foreign policy.

Now a days you can't do that anymore, because the parties (especially the Republicans) demand that you put up a fight on every single issue. But back then, "I'll take foreign policy and law enforcement, you guys can deal with the rest" was an acceptable way to manage a divided government.

[Major Hogwash]

64. Well, I think that's awfully kind of you to mention my name here at the DU forum, but . . .

[img][img]

. . . I still can't figure out how you made the connection to me clear down here in hell.



Link --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency

According to history, Henry M Jackson, better known as "Scoop" Jackson, of Washington state was the Senator that was leading the way for creation of the environmental agencies in this country.
He was a Democrat.

The statute that ultimately addressed this issue was the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4347). Senator Henry M. Jackson proposed and helped write S 1075, the bill that eventually became the National Environmental Policy Act.
He wrote the NEPA in 1969.
The law was signed by President Nixon on January 1, 1970.

Nixon put all of the federal agencies that were dealing with environmental issues under 1 roof, the EPA, by executive order on December 2, 1970.
Congress didn't trust Nixon very much, so they looked into why he did that, and then they later agreed it would be okay, as it would help streamline the operations of the federal government concerning those issues.

However, much later in 1979, in one of those best selling tell-all books that are always written after a President leaves the White House, one of Nixon's aides admitted that Nixon created the EPA solely for one reason -- so that there would only be 1 all-encompassing environmental agency, that he could then ignore . . instead of drawing criticism to himself by ignoring all of the separate environmental agencies that Congress was busy thinking of creating at that time.

The Republicans have been trying to get rid of the EPA ever since!

In case there's any doubt about which political party in this country is concerned about environmental issues in our great country, I found the last line in the history section of that wiki entry to be quite convincing --

On July 17, 2013, the EPA renamed its headquarters the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, after former president Bill Clinton.

[arthritisR_US]

48. Well, not for me but they pissed on my friends mothers' grave. Nt

[GoCubsGo]

49. They cost me my job and my career.

And, my life savings, and my health. I hope they ALL wind up like me--broke and constantly fearing that I'll wind up with some stress-related illness that I can't treat because I have no money or insurance. Not just the politicians, but the brain-dead imbeciles that keep putting them in office. Especially the latter. Fuck them all.

[sheshe2]

51. If you give me a minute...

K~ sorry can't come up with one damn thang~

I tried, I really did Major!

Wait What! Does scaring the shit out of me count?

[sheshe2]

52. I got mad...

does that count?

[Jamaal510]

53. They gave me motivation to stay politically-active & always vote against them. eom

[ZombieHorde]

54. Made voting much easier.

Imagine if there were two main parties that were trying to tackle inequality, healthcare, etc. Voting would be tougher.

[pnwmom]

55. They nominated Sarah Palin for President, so Tina Fey could play her on Saturday Night Live. n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

58. Winthrop Rockefeller, governor of Arkansas (1967-71)

"Scholars Diane Blair and Jay L. Barth continue: “As long as Rockefeller led the Arkansas Republicans, the party had a progressive, reformist cast, and those whom Rockefeller had brought into the party continued to dominate party offices and shape presidential preferences until 1980,”[12] when the nomination and election of Ronald Reagan of California as president and Frank D. White as governor moved power within the state GOP “sharply to the right.”[13]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winthrop_Rockefeller

What he did for me, personally, off the top of my head, was to make school textbooks free and implement a more progressive, outward-looking curriculum in the states' schools.

[GummyBearz]

60. Paid for my college tuition

They made my dad go to vietnam where he was partially disabled. 33 years later the CalVet program gave me free tuition for my BS, MS, and PhD degrees (as well as my sisters BA)...

yay?

[butterfly77]

62. They took away funding from....

everything this country needs and now its coming back to bite everyone in their s and now its time to kick