There are No Real Differences Between Democrats and Republicans



We are ruled by two political parties, Democrats and Republicans. That suggests choice and difference. The reality is both parties are in collusion to monopolize political power. They only pretend to be different. The bottom line is both parties serve the same master: wealthy special interests.

The Illusion of Choice

 * The report's author, demographer Michelle Diggles, warned her own party. "While President Obama won the Hispanic vote in 2012 by 44 points, a majority of Hispanics identified as independents and only 32 percent as Democrats.


 * "And Hispanics express lukewarm feelings about the Democratic Party. Only 27 percent think the Democratic Party cares a lot about the issues and concerns of Hispanics," she wrote. "This and their lack of identification as self-described Democrats suggest that Hispanic attachment to the Democratic Party is shallow rather than deep." (source)

Both Parties Take Money from Big Business

 * "Rep. Charles Rangel, who was called out by challenger Adriano Espaillat during a recent debate for a vote to water down Wall Street reform. Espaillat, a state senator, has been hammering Rangel for weeks over his ties to the financial industry. On Thursday night, Rangel pulled out of the final debate before the election." (source)

Myth: Republicans Outspend Democrats in Elections

 * Billionaires support Democrats and Republicans
 * We cross-checked the Open Secrets list of the top 100 individuals donating to outside spending groups in the current election against the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires and found that, as of June 19, there were 22 individuals on the Open Secrets list who were billionaires. Of those 22 billionaires, 13 -- or more than half -- gave predominantly to liberal groups or groups affiliated with the Democratic Party. The other nine gave predominantly to conservative groups. (A list of billionaires and how much they donated can be found here.)


 * Also, neither party is pleading poverty these days due to funds raised from people below the billionaire bracket. So far in the 2014 election cycle, the top Democratic Party committees have raised more than $725 million, according to Open Secrets. The top Republican Party committees have raised more than $600 million. In the 2012 election, the Democrats and Republicans each raised about $1.7 billion.


 * Democrats may have closed the gap this cycle by getting more support from the growing number of young, ultra-wealthy liberals in Silicon Valley -- like Hoffman, who is worth $3.2 billion at 47 years old -- suggested Forbes reporter Clare O’Connor, who has covered the subject. At the same time, an increasing number of the very rich are splitting their support between the parties, she said.


 * We can’t make a final call on whether or not Reid was right in saying the Democratic Party "doesn't have many billionaires." We know that both parties have billionaire backers. In 2012, the advantage went to the Republicans. So far in 2014, the Democrats have the edge in terms of public donations to outside spending groups. But this is far from a full picture because of current donation disclosure rules.


 * We can’t answer the question of which side has more because it’s impossible to know exactly who donates to elections and how much they give. Certain types of political nonprofits are not required to disclose all their funders, although some do so voluntarily.

Democrats Quite Often Act Like Republicans

 * "It’s one thing for Democrats running in red parts of the country to sound like Republicans on the campaign trail. It’s another when Democrats running in purple or even blue territory try to do so." (source)