Great Democratic Party Accomplishments

[demwing]

Next time your relative, friend, neighbor, or boss challenges you to tell them what the Democrats have ever done for America, let them know!

Military
WW1 Victory(1919) - Woodrow Wilson(D)
WW2 Victory(1945) - Franklin D Roosevelt(D) / Harry S. Truman(D)
GI Bill (1945) - FDR(D)
NATO(1949) - Truman(D)

Foreign Relations
Marshall Plan(1947) - Truman(D)
Peace Corp(1960/61) - John F. Kennedy(D)

Space Exploration
First Manned Moon Mission(1969) - Under Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson(D)
First American to Orbit the Earth(1962) = John Glenn \ Under Pres. JFK(D)
Oldest Person in Space(1998) = Sen. John Glenn(D)\ Under Pres. Bill Clinton(D)

Socio-Economic Programs
40-hour Work Week(1938) - Roosevelt(D)
Minimum Wage Law(1938) - Roosevelt(D)
Overtime(1938)- Roosevelt(D)
Social Security Act(1935) - Roosevelt(D)
Unemployment Compensation(1935) - Roosevelt(D)
Rural Electrification Act(1936) - Roosevelt(D)
Federal Deposit Insurance(1933) - Roosevelt(D)
Federal Home Loan Program(1934) - Rossevelt(D)
Securities & Exchange Act(1934) - Rossevelt(D)

Education
Guaranteed Student Loan Program(1965) - Johnson(D)
School Lunch Program(1946) - Truman(D)
Operation Head Start(1965) - Johnson(D)

Health
Medicare(1965) - Johnson(D)
Medicaid(1965) - Johnson(D)
Family and Medical Leave Act(1993) - Clinton(D)

Civil Rights
Women's Suffrage Amendment
Civil Rights Act(1965) - Johnson(D)
Voting Rights Act (1965) - Johnson(D)
Motor Voter Act(1993) - Clinton(D)

That's a good start, but I know you can add more. Let's list it all!

[charlyvi]

1. Head Start Program (1964)

LBJ-D

[demwing]

2. Already Got It! But thanks :)

Its the third and final listing under education.

[Lefty Pragmatist]

3. A quibble

Drop all the space stuff.

+ Johnson had nothing to do with the space program (other than Texas pork ;-) ). Either give it to Kennedy or drop it -- Nixon was president when we landed at Tranquility Base.

+ The first orbit (Glenn) was a result of years of space funding and research under Ike. It's really a bipartisan or even a GOP achievement.

+ The oldest person in space was just plain dumb and doesn't deserve to be on the list of real achievements (IMHO).

[demwing]

9. Nixon was in office just 6 months

And in the decade leading up to the moon landing, Kennedy had held office for less than three years.

Johnson was in office for more than 6 years just prior to the moon landing.

Kennedy may have inspired the vision, but the moon landidng was all about money - $20 billion worth, which we were able to shell out on top of Johnsons Great Society expenditures plus the Vietnam war.

Johnson pushed the space race as a tribute to Kennedy, and it was under Johnson that the NASA space mission were reordered into the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

Hell, the space center in Houston is named after LBJ!

I think Johnson deserves the lions share of the credit for the US being first on the moon.

[demwing]

11. Can't have it both ways :)

If the GOP gets credit for an event that happened two years into JFK's watch (first US orbit was in 1962), how could Nixon get any credit for the Moon landing? And why deny Johnson? Doesn't make any sense to me.

:)

As far as your feelings about Glenn being the oldest person in space being dumb, well I can't change that. I thought it was very cool, and was pumped that they chose Glenn. It was a real tribute to an American hero.

[Lefty Pragmatist]

4. Foreign Relations

I would include the Camp David Accord that brokered the peace treaty Israel and Egypt. This was a big Carter initiative and ended the cycle of Middle East wars against Israel.

[IndianaGreen]

5. President Wilson was quite anti-labor and was also a budding fascist

Wilson also had an Attorney General (Palmer) that would give Ashcroft a run for his money when it came to violation of civil liberties.

All of the following that you mentioned were Socialist ideas (remember where May Day comes from? It was about the 8-hour workday!):

40-hour Work Week(1938) - Roosevelt(D)
Minimum Wage Law(1938) - Roosevelt(D)
Overtime(1938)- Roosevelt(D)
Social Security Act(1935) - Roosevelt(D)
Unemployment Compensation(1935) - Roosevelt(D)

FDR watered them down quite a bit. For example, the Socialist national pension plan became the more modest Social Security.

The minimum wage is a watered down version of the Socialist version which is closer to the current Living Wage (which the Democratic Party has failed to endorse).

The leaders of women's rights were not Democrats, but socialists, anarchists, and communists. Many of them were lesbians.

We have yet to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment:

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in the above form in 1972, but was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states.

http://www.now.org/issues/economic/eratext.html

[bushwakker]

6. the current GOP is built on the aftermath of LBJ's civil rights

accomplishments. Dixiecrats turned to the GOP as the vehicle for a backlash against eqaulity. It is a fact.

[WI_DEM]

7. Let's not forget the contributions of President Carter

Camp David Accords and Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel which has kept the peace between these two countries for the last quarter of a century.

The Panama Canal Treaties--it was the right thing to do and it enhanced our country in Central/Latin America.

Carter also signed into law one of the landmark conservation acts of all-time--"The Alaskan Lands Bill"

and President Clinton's greatest accomplishment was taking a huge budget deficit and making the largest surplusses in history.

[WI_DEM]

10. Carter also pardoned all Vietnam war deserters

to help heal this country--it was his first act as president.

[Forkboy]

12. Carter is a great man

One of the few politicians in any party that actually inspires me.

[Zynx]

8. Truman desegregated the armed forces.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. There are far too few recent accomplishments on that list. Did the DNC

peak 40+ years ago? Are they due for another round of FDR-type programs? (I say yes, because * has run us into the ground as badly as we were during the depression.)

Here's hoping Kerry will strive to be the next FDR.

[quaoar]

14. The Camp David Accords

That brought peace between Israel and Egypt and were negotiated by Carter.

[doc03]

15. In eastern Ohio the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District

constructed 16 lakes for flood control. These have saved millions
of dollars in flood damages and many lives over the years. Also they have provided the area with great recreation areas. They were built in the 30's as a public works project under the Roosevelt administration. There were hundreds of public works projects built in Appalachia by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps).