Views of Political Parties on Business Development

In the Political Party quiz, I received a Liberal Democrat while in the political ideology quiz I received an Opportunity Democrat. According to the Pew Research Center, Opportunity Democrats have liberal views on most issues. Therefore, what the quiz says about me is that I have liberal views regarding most issues and I am Democratic-leaning. Looking at the Democratic Party platform, I realize that many of my ideas do align with the Democrat Party.

I agree that wealth is concentrated at the top and changes should be made to the economy to expand the middle class, to aid those in low incomes, and not favor the wealthy. I agree that discrimination and inequality based on race, religion, gender, etc. is still a significant problem and more steps should be taken to address it. Furthermore, I agree that diversity and immigration is a large and critical part of our society and that everyone should feel welcomed and included. I agree that the government should try to make affordable housing more accessible and that social security should be protected. I agree that more needs to be done to protect the environment and wildlife. I prefer a bigger government, as Democrats do, while Republicans prefer a smaller government. I agree that the government should do more to assist the needy and poor. I agree that it is the government’s responsibility to make sure healthcare is available to everyone and that good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace. My ideas about the role of government, politics, and policy mostly align with the Democratic Party. However, the Pew Research Center states that Opportunist Democrats stand out in their belief that most people can get ahead if they work hard. I believe that most people can not get ahead due to hard work because there are significant obstacles they face that prevent them from getting ahead. This is the only significant difference I found with my views and the party’s while everything else was the same.

I believe factions enhance civic engagement because individuals are more motivated to improve the community and protect public values when they are working together in a group and are being encouraged by others. Individuals by themselves may be less inclined to these types of works because they do not have the motivation. Furthermore, working with others can accomplish more than working alone. I believe that factions do not promote acceptance of diverse opinions in a way because factions are made up of individuals who have similar views and opinions and therefore will not be supportive of views and opinions outside of their own.

The party’s lawmakers take their stance on policy issues based on the party’s views and beliefs. Just as individuals make decisions based on logic and their beliefs and values, the party’s lawmakers do the same. For example, the video states that 66% of Republicans believe that the poor have it easy because they don’t work for benefits while 28% of Democrats believe in the same idea. This belief influences Republican lawmakers as they will probably not support laws that further aid the poor and would be more likely to decrease the size of programs that aid the poor that are already in place. To illustrate, in 2014, Republicans in the Congress sought a $40 billion reduction in the food stamp program and after President Obama, a Democrat, threatened to veto, they decided on an $8 billion reduction. This demonstrates how values shape policies in welfare and income issues as well as social issues.

Regarding welfare and income issues, 33% of Republicans believe that those in the upper-income field pay “too little” in taxes compared to 78% of Democrats. This belief will most likely cause Republicans to vote on policies that favor the wealthy and those at the top, while the Democrats would most likely vote on policies that aid those in low and middle incomes, increase taxes for the wealthy, and decrease the large wage inequality. To illustrate, the Bush tax cuts gave the top one fifth about three-fourths of the tax savings compared to the 0.3% the bottom quintile received. Furthermore, the top one percent to paid about $50,000 less in tax cuts while those in the bottom quintile only paid $93 dollars less. In total over the period of four years, those in the bottom 20% only gained about $1,400 while those in the top one percent gained about $522,000. To show how Republican values influenced the laws that were passed, in the House of Representatives, 99.6% of Republicans voted in favor of the 2003 Bush Tax Cuts compared to the 4% of Democrats who voted on it. In the Senate, 94.1% voted in favor while 4.2% of Democrats voted in favor of the tax cuts. This demonstrates how a party’s nature influences its decisions on welfare and income issues as well as fiscal and monetary issues, as almost all the Republicans favored the tax cut while almost all the Democrats opposed it.

Another example of a fiscal and monetary issue is the tax rebate of 2008 which gave $300 per dependent adult and child to taxpayers making less than $75,000 a year and less than $150,000 a year for a married couple. In the Senate, 100% of Democrats supported this bill while 67% of Republicans supported it. In the House of Representatives, 98% of Democrats supported the bill, while 85% of Republicans supported the bill. Even though President Bush was a Republican, Democrats favored the bill more because Democratic Party focuses on aiding those in low incomes while the Republican Party favors the wealthy who could not receive the tax rebates. In 2009, when a larger stimulus bill was passed almost all the Democrats voted in favor of it while almost no Republicans voted in favor of the bill. This was due to the same reason that Democrats focus on assisting those with low incomes while Republicans favor those at the top and further demonstrates how the nature of a party affects the position the party’s lawmakers take on an issue.

An example of Regulatory issues is the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. This act tightened banking regulations in response to the financial crisis of 2008 and aimed to decrease financial risks. The Act was written and supported by Democrats while Republicans opposed the act claiming that it prevented economic growth and was too restrictive. When Trump became president he weakened some aspects of the act. This demonstrates the Republican’s inclination towards the idea that government regulation of businesses does more harm than good and the Democrat’s inclination towards the idea that government regulation of businesses is necessary to protect public interests. This belief affected the decisions they took on issues.