1. A
large number of Democrats and Republicans signed the National Defense Authorization Act for the year 2012, which critics say allows for the indefinite detention of American citizens on U.S. soil without due process. President Obama
pledged to veto the NDAA, but went back on his word and
signed it into law with the indefinite detention provision included. Mitt Romney
says that he would do the same.
2.
Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly favor Keynesian economics rather than other schools of economic thought such as the
Austrian School of economics.
3. The Bush-era Patriot Act, which allows for warrantless wiretapping, was passed with
bipartisan support and recently
extended by policymakers of both parties.
Romney has voiced his support for the controversial legislation.
Obama supported it as a senator and signed the extension into law as president.
4. Both the Republican and Democratic administrations have attempted to justify the use of
extrajudicial targeted killing, the killing of people without trial or substantive due process, including American citizens. The use of these tactics
increased under President Obama and has received
praise from members of both parties. There was strong
bipartisan support for the Obama Administration’s extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizen
Anwar al-Aulaqi and his 16 year old son without trial, which received praise from Republican Party
members and was strongly
supported by Mitt Romney.
5. The Democratic and Republican parties both generally support the vastly-growing use of unmanned aerial combat drones in the Middle East:
- The use of unmanned drones to patrol foreign skies, which have been responsible for many civilian and child deaths, began under President Bush and drone use has drastically increased and expanded under President Obama. There has been little to no partisan opposition to these tactics and while the GOP platform advocates for increased drone use, the Democratic platform doesn’t mention their use at all.
- Drone warfare in Pakistan started under Bush, has been significantly escalated by Obama, and Romney has indicated that he will continue using drones in Pakistan if elected. Both parties also support the continued drone warfare being used in Libya, which Romney has stated he would likely continue.
- In Yemen, the Obama Administration has continued the fighting that the Bush Administration initiated, which Obama has done with the use of secretive drone warfare and by recently sending troops back.
6. Both parties will also allow drones to patrol the skies of the United States. The
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which calls for the use of up to
30,000 drones in U.S. airspace, passed the
Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
7. The Federal Reserve is allowed by both parties to continue to operate as an “
independent government agency,” whose monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the president nor any other elected member of the executive or legislative branch. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was appointed by George W. Bush and re-appointed by Obama. Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on whether he would reappoint Bernanke, stating in
2010 that he would reappoint him, but stating
recently that he would not reappoint Bernanke for a third term. Bernanke was reappointed for his second term in 2010 after a
bipartisan vote of 70-30. However, the Audit the Fed bill has also received strong
bipartisan support.
8. In an apparent direct conflict of interest, 130 Republican and Democratic congressional members have invested in company stocks while making legislative decisions that impact those same companies.
9.
Democrats and Republicans both played a role in the founding of the Federal Reserve. Initial versions of the Federal Reserve Act were drafted by Republican Senator
Nelson Aldrich and the final version was drafted y Democratic Congressman
Carter Glass of Virginia, which then went to receive
strong bipartisan support in Congress.
10. Both Republican and Democrats have allowed the Federal Reserve to inject
trillions of
dollars into the economy through their
quantitative easing programs. While many Republicans including Romney have said they are against the third round of quantitative easing, neither party has or is likely to introduce bills aimed at regulating or halting quantitative easing altogether.
11. Republicans and Democrats love earmarks so much that even the bipartisan earmark moratorium, while greatly cutting back on earmarks,
couldn’t stop the
pork from being
slipped into bills. Approved earmarks in
2010 totaled over $15 billion and the amount of requested earmarks in
2011 exceeded $129 billion. Citizens Against Government Waste
reports that $3.3 billion has been approved for 2012.
12.
Both parties and their national, congressional and senatorial committees have spent more than one billion dollars on their 2012 campaigns.
13. The Democratic and Republican convention committees each
received $17,689,800 from the U.S. Treasury for their conventions in 2012 and an additional $600,000 to cover the cost of inflation. This is paid for through a voluntary check off on federal income tax forms.
14. Both parties are largely
backed by the same
corporate contributors and
interest groups. Congressional members also
receive contributions from many of the same interest groups. Both parties are heavily
lobbied by
corporate America — to the tune of $3.3 billion in 2011 and $1.68 billion thus far in 2012.
15. The majority of both parties agreed that Wall Street should receive bailouts. The TARP bailout was signed into law by
George W. Bush and initially drafted by Bush-appointed Secretary of Treasury– and Republican– Henry Paulson. Obama
supported TARP as a senator and the bailout went on to receive overwhelming support from
Democrats in the House. TARP also received largely
bipartisan support in the
Senate.
16. The same
Wall Street TARP recipients who were top contributors to the
Democratic presidential campaign in 2008 are now the top contributors backing the
Republican presidential campaign in 2012. In 2008, Republican
John McCain was backed by the same companies, although his campaign received less than the Obama campaign.
17. Both parties are private, non-profit corporations and are in no way an official part of the United States government. Furthermore, neither party is mentioned in the Constitution nor is there mention of a two-party system, and a few of our
founding fathers expressed concerns regarding the emergence of a rival two-party system. 18. As Glenn Greenwald
points out in an article for The Guardian, Republicans and Democrats discuss certain
general issues during debates while ignoring other more controversial issues that they may agree on, hoping to convince the public that there is a huge difference of choice.
19. Both Democrats and Republicans seem to believe that voting for a third party is equivalent to throwing away your vote while in reality, if everyone voted their conscience and avoided voting for the “lesser of two evils,” which
46 percent of those polled said they would be doing this election, the two-party stranglehold may actually be broken.
20. The
Democratic and
Republican parties have
both sued third parties to prevent them from appearing on the ballot in key states.
21. Both the Democratic and Republican parties
exclude third parties from the presidential debates. In 1987, the Democratic and Republican parties founded the nonprofit
Commission on Presidential Debates to regulate the presidential debates, which
excludes third party candidates from participating in the only nationally televised presidential debates.
22. The Democratic and Republican parties have both been
sued for conspiring to exclude third parties from the quadrennial presidential debates.
23. Both also both believe that taxpayers should provide funding to other countries around the world. The bipartisan
Commission on Appropriations approved $40.1 billion in foreign aid for the 2013 year. 24. Both party platforms mention Israel, confirm Jerusalem as being the capital city, and both the
Democratic and
Republican presidential candidate have pledged their allegiance to Israel.
25. The Democratic and Republican parties
both agree that a two-state solution should be pursued between Israel and Palestine.
26. No one other than a Democrat or Republican has been elected president in the last 160 years.
27. Lawmakers from both parties in Congress and the executive branch have been responsible for all
foreign interventions since 1853, keeping America in a near perpetual state of war. They are also responsible for the assistance and direct involvement of the U.S. in at least
31 instances of covert foreign regime change since the beginning of the Cold War.
28. There is cross-administration support of preemptive cyber attacks. The Obama Administration has
continued the Stuxnet cyber attacks against Iran which were started under the Bush Administration.
29. Sanctions against
Iran began under Carter and have received
strong bipartisan support from every
administration since, continuing under the
Obama Administration.
30. Both Democrats and Republicans are eager to place
even more sanctions on Iran,
which harm innocent Iranian civilians, hoping to prevent Iran from developing nukes. The fact that
eight other countries already have nukes is usually ignored.
31. The Democratic and Republican parties both agree that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a top priority.
Obama and
Romney also both agree that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is a top US security priority.
32. At least 360 former
Democratic and Republican congresspeople have left office and accepted jobs as lobbyists for corporations or special interest groups who then attempt to influence the same federal government they once worked for. As many as
5,400 congressional staffers have done the same in the past 10 years alone. Referred to as the “
revolving door,” members of
both parties routinely move between influential private sector positions and policy-making positions in the executive or legislative branches.
33.
Republicans and Democrats can agree that the economic stimulus package helped the economy. Romney has
stated that he believes an economic stimulus package was necessary and many Republicans
have spoke of the success of the Democratic economic stimulus package. Think Progress
reports that over half of the opposing GOP — 110 members from the House and Senate — returned to their home states to either claim credit for popular stimulus programs or to tout its success.
34. The
large scale domestic spying program currently underway by the
NSA, AT&T, Verizon and others, named
Stellar Wind, was
approved by
Bush and has been continued under the Obama Administration. There now exist massive domestic spy centers which are designed to collect every single communication made in the U.S., including e-mails, phone conversations, financial transactions, and internet activity. These have been conveniently ignored by the majority of both parties. 35. Both Republicans and Democrats stay relatively quiet about and generally support U.S. reliance on
fiat money,
fractional reserve lending and our debt based monetary policy. Both platforms are void of any mention of monetary policy reform.
36. The Democratic and Republican parties largely support continuing the War on Terror in which Bush Administration policies have been
continued and expanded by the Obama
Administration. A
Political.com poll found that 72 percent of those polled want troops home from Afghanistan now — not in 2014, and a
Rasmussen Reports poll found that 59 percent of Americans polled want troops removed from Afghanistan either immediately or within a year.
37. Neither party has
constitutionally declared war since World War II. This election cycle, both the Democratic and Republican parties have also chosen presidential candidates who
believe that the president has the power to go to war without congressional approval. Like the
Bush Administration’s
unconstitutional war in Iraq, the Obama Administration is responsible for an
unconstitutional war in
Libya. A Romney Administration will
consider sending more troops to Libya. Also like
George H.W. Bush,
Clinton, and
George W. Bush, The Obama Administration has sent troops to
Somalia. As
demonstrated in the third presidential debate,
despite who wins the election, foreign policies will likely remain the same.
38. There was strong bipartisan support in the
Senate and
House for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution, however congress never officially declared war.
39. Both parties believe that the U.S. should be intervening in Syria. The Obama Administration
began arming the Free Syrian Army rebels, who are
joined by Al-Qaeda factions, and Romney has
stated that he supports and will continue arming the rebels in the proxy war with
Iran and
Russia.
40. The Bush Administration’s use of torture through
extraordinary rendition, which is when prisoners are sent from CIA black sites to other countries where “information extraction” will be attempted, began after Clinton signed
PDD 39 and has
continued under the Obama Administration. By failing to speak out or attempting to change these practices, Republicans and Democrats both allow for “enhanced interrogation techniques” — such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation, hypothermia and stress positions, among others– to be used to extract information from suspects. The Obama Administration even
granted final immunity to Bush’s CIA torturers.
41.
Both parties use
gerrymandering to gain a political advantage through more favorable district boundaries.
42. Despite the increase in
use of illicit drugs in the U.S., a rising drug war death toll in
Mexico, and the highest public support for
marijuana legalization ever, both parties generally avoid speaking about ending the War on Drugs or legalizing marijuana in lieu of a more effective approach. Since the beginning of prohibition in 1937, no administration has attempted to legalize marijuana. Even though there is more
scientific evidence than ever indicating the benefits of marijuana, every administration has kept marijuana regulated under Schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act. A Schedule I classification places marijuana in a stricter regulatory category than cocaine, labels it as having no medicinal benefit, and prohibits doctors from prescribing it. Hemp production, which
would provide many
environmental and economic benefits, continues to remain outlawed and ignored as well.
43.
Both parties rigged aspects of their 2012 conventions by using teleprompters with pre-loaded and predetermined vote outcomes, and then ignored overwhelming delegate dissent during voice votes. 44. Both parties generally ignore the fact that the United States has the
highest incarceration rate per capital in the world with over half imprisoned for nonviolent drug use, and neither platform offers solutions to this problem.
45. It’s common for
Republicans and
Democrats to
pander to
various demographics, attempting to win them over.
46. The Bush Administration’s Guantanamo Bay has remained open under Obama and although he did sign an executive order calling for the closing, the Senate, in an overwhelmingly
bipartisan effort, blocked the federal funding to ship the prisoners to Illinois. Obama then signed the federal fund-blocking bill into law when he could have vetoed. The Obama Administration has also imposed new
arbitrary rules for the
prisoners and Romney has said that he would like to see it
double in size.
47. Both parties rely heavily on
marketing operations that use brand logos, names, messaging and colors to “sell” their candidate.
48. Under the Bush Administration, not one Senate member
voted against the bill that founded the Transportation Security Administration and the House displayed
overwhelming support as well. Obama
supports the TSA and Romney claims he will make a few
improvements but the TSA will
remain.
49. A bill designed to
ensure that the internet remains open and minimally regulated received strong
bipartisan support in the House. On the other hand, there has been
bipartisan support for bills such as
SOPA and
PIPA, which critics such as
Google,
Wikipedia, and
Facebook say would allow severe internet regulation, censorship and provide the president with an “internet kill switch.”
50. Both platforms agree that
“clean coal” is an essential resource for U.S. energy requirements.
Romney and
Obama both advocate for the use of clean coal as a way of furthering America’s energy independence.
51. Democrats and Republicans are
responsible for the
16 trillion national debt and are largely responsible for the 58 trillion in total U.S. debt.
52. Both parties have
failed to propose a plan for the immediate balancing of the budget.
Romney and
Obama both propose federal budget plans that would add trillions to the national debt.
53. Neither party plans on
cutting defense spending, which is currently larger than the combined defense spending of the next
13 countries. 54. According to
Gallup, Congressional Democrats and Republicans have
record low approval ratings of only 10 percent and according to another
poll, 81 percent of those polled have trust in the government “only some of the time or never.”
55. Both the Democratic and Republican platforms mention God and both
parties are theistic in nature.
56. There is strong
bipartisan support for increased gun control measures. Both
Romney and
Obama are also supporters of increasing gun control.
57. Republicans and Democrats allow the U.S. to maintain military bases in over
120 countries. A Rasmussen Reports
poll found that 51 percent of Americans polled want all troops withdrawn from Western Europe.
58. The Bush-Clinton NAFTA free trade agreement was
passed in a
bipartisan effort. Obama has not only
failed to renegotiate NAFTA, but is now
pushing for more NAFTA style deals. Romney has
stated that he will be a champion of free trade.
59. The U.S. Cuba trade embargo has been
largely bipartisan and neither a Republican nor Democratic
administration is likely to lift the embargo.
60. There was strong
bipartisan agreement that the NFL lockout
should end.
61. Both the Republican and Democratic platform agree that the death penalty should remain in place, which
Obama and
Romney also support. 62. Although
62 percent of Americans polled said they want to get rid of electoral college in favor of a more direct approach to democracy, neither the Republican or Democratic Party present this as an option.
63. As Jon Stewart
points out, the last eight presidents have gone on television and pledged to move America toward an energy-independent future. In 2012, both party platforms as well as both
Romney and Obama pledge to bring America into a new era of energy independence.
64. Voter fraud paranoia is largely bipartisan. Voters belonging to
both parties are paranoid that the opposing party may be involved in voter fraud.
65. Political campaign advertisements from both parties have
long focused on attacking the other candidate in often misleading ways. Gary Johnson takes a
different approach to campaign ads, deciding to not mention his opponent by name.
66. Americans of
both parties overwhelmingly oppose the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling that allows corporations and special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money, in secret, on political campaigning.
67. Yet both the Republican and Democratic parties continue to heavily rely on the same
super PAC funded campaign strategies permitted by the Citizens United ruling.
68. Both
Democratic and Republican parties are exploiting loopholes that allow members of Congress and presidential candidates to assist super PACs in their fundraising efforts.
69. Among those
polled, there is strong bipartisan support for Obama’s Keystone Pipeline project, and the bill passed the House with strong
bipartisan support. Romney has
indicated that he supports this project as well.
70. The Democratic and Republican parties refuse to ban contributions from
corporations and interest groups, whereas the
Green Party runs on a platform of refusing to accept corporate donations.
71. The two-party system continues to operate largely due to
laws and
regulations created by the two parties, which severely limit and regulate the ability of third party candidates to gain traction and ballot access.
72. There has been
bipartisan congressional support of filibuster reform.
73. Neither the Democratic or Republican Party are willing to address the
130,000 plus Iraqi and Afghan civilian deaths that have happened as a result of the bipartisan Global War on Terror.
74. Republicans and Democrats are
both responsible for the gutting of the welfare system.
75. Presidential signing
statements have been a significant source of controversy, but have been
employed heavily by every administration since Reagan.
76. Line item vetoes have been
supported by presidents and candidats of both parties: Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. Bills designed to allow line item vetoes have also received
bipartisan support in the
House and
Senate.
77. Both Republicans and Democrats are
concerned about the public’s knowledge of their use of drones and the use of cyber weapons against Iran.
78. In the 2012 presidential race, both the Democratic and Republican campaigns
have decided to not spend taxpayer money on their campaigns.
79. Both parties act as if the
other party is the
worst thing that has ever happened to America.
80. A new farm bill, which will finance dozens of price support and crop insurance programs for farmers and food assistance for low-income families, received
strong bipartisan support in the Senate.
Connect With Us