The United States has been saddled with a two-party political system almost from the very beginning of its existence. First it was the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party, then it was the Democrats and the Whigs, and now it is the Democrats and the Republicans.
George Wallace’s adage that “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties” is true now more than ever. And yet, at the same time, the perception that the two major parties have substantial differences is widely accepted, so much so that Americans are polarized politically as never before. The idea that we actually have a single uniparty system with two divisions that move in lockstep on most major issues seems far fetched.
According to a report by the Pew Research Center,
Within both partisan groups, views of the opposing party are overwhelmingly unfavorable across-the-board, with more than eight-in-ten — strong partisans, not so strong partisans and leaners alike — saying this.
About six-in-ten (61%) say the phrase “too extreme in its positions” describes the Republican Party very or somewhat well, with an almost identical share (60%) saying the same about the Democratic Party.
Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.
A quick look at the Democratic and Republican Party platforms shows that they not only don’t like each other but blame each other for all the woes in the country.
Democrats on Republicans
According to the 2020 Democratic Party Platform, which was adopted during Donald Trump’s last year as president:
President Trump and the Republican Party have rigged the economy in favor of the wealthiest few and the biggest corporations, and left working families and small businesses out in the cold.
President Trump and the Republican Party are trying to tear health care away from millions of people who depend on it for survival.
Time after time, President Trump and the Republicans have rewarded big corporations and their wealthy donors, and left working families behind.
Our tax system has been rigged against the American people by big corporations and their lobbyists, and by Republican politicians who dole out tax cuts to their biggest donors while leaving working families to struggle.
At every turn, Democrats’ efforts to guarantee health coverage have been met by obstruction and opposition from the Republican Party.
We stand united against the determined Republican campaign to disenfranchise voters through onerous voter ID laws, unconstitutional and excessive purges of the voter rolls, and closures of polling places in low-income neighborhoods, on college campuses, and in communities of color.
The Republican Party has packed our federal courts with unqualified, partisan judges who consistently rule for corporations, the wealthy, and Republican interests.
Republican governors, legislatures, and state officials “have disenfranchised people of color, young people, low-income people, and people with disabilities.” Republican proposals “would make students pay billions of dollars more on their student loans.”
Republicans on Democrats
The Republicans did not adopt a new party platform in 2020. They instead reaffirmed their 2016 platform, which was adopted during the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency:
The President and the Democratic party have dismantled Americans’ system of healthcare. They have replaced it with a costly and complicated scheme that limits choices and takes away our freedom. The President and the Democratic party have abandoned their promise of being accountable to the American people. They have nearly doubled the size of the national debt. They refuse to control our borders but try to control our schools, farms, businesses, and even our religious institutions. They have directly attacked the production of American energy and the industry-related jobs that have sustained families and communities.
The President has been regulating to death a free market economy that he does not like and does not understand. He defies the laws of the United States by refusing to enforce those with which he does not agree. And he appoints judges who legislate from the bench rather than apply the law.
The Democratic Administration’s sustained support for additional regulation of agriculture has directly resulted in higher costs of production for those who produce the food we eat. This federal regulatory overreach has resulted and will continue to result in higher food prices for Americans.
During the last eight years of a Democratic Administration, nearly all the work requirements for able-bodied adults, instituted by our landmark welfare reform of 1996, have been removed.
Democrats have “stymied Republican efforts to restrain executive lawlessness” and “have also endorsed an anticonstitutional agenda of their own.”
The issues
The Democrat and Republican attacks on each other seem to reinforce the notion that America doesn’t have a uniparty system. Conservative Ryan Saavedra, formerly with Breitbart News and the Daily Caller, and now with The Daily Wire — where he “covers a range of subjects, particularly focusing on media bias, politics, and the convergence of politics and culture” — has mocked the idea that we have a uniparty system:
Always appreciate when people use “uniparty” because it identifies who should not be taken seriously. Yeah, Democrats and Republicans are the exact same on everything except: abortion, transgenderism, guns, religious freedom, mandates, death penalty, foreign policy, bill of rights, drug policy, immigration, border security, entitlement programs, education, healthcare, taxes, fiscal policy, tariffs, military spending, election integrity, electoral college, law enforcement, climate change, energy policy, and much, much more.
Two types of issues should be distinguished here: cultural issues and political issues. That Democrats and Republicans differ on cultural issues there is no doubt. But when it comes to political issues, Democrats and Republicans are philosophically two peas in a pod.
The main cultural issue that separates Democrats and Republicans is abortion. The Republicans say in their platform:
The Democratic Party is extreme on abortion. Democrats’ almost limitless support for abortion, and their strident opposition to even the most basic restrictions on abortion, put them dramatically out of step with the American people. Because of their opposition to simple abortion clinic safety procedures, support for taxpayer-funded abortion, and rejection of pregnancy resource centers that provide abortion alternatives, the old Clinton mantra of “safe, legal, and rare” has been reduced to just “legal.” We are proud to be the party that protects human life and offers real solutions for women.
There used to be some prolife Democrats, but I can’t remember the last time I heard a Democratic politician or pundit expressing opposition to abortion itself or the relaxing of abortion restrictions. The abortion issue is one of the main reasons why so many conservatives hold their nose and vote Republican in every election — even though Republicans in Congress are a bit inconsistent. Although they may tout their prolife credentials come election time and march in the National March for Life every January, Republicans in Congress have for decades funded Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider — as if the funds they receive are not fungible. But, yes, there is a great divide between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of abortion. Likewise, when it comes to transgenderism.
Things are quite different when it comes to political issues that relate to the Constitution, the welfare state, and the warfare state. And in fact, in some cases where small differences do exist between Democrats and Republicans, it is Republicans who — from a libertarian perspective — are worse. Here are a number of the above-mentioned issues wherein the bottom line is that Democrats and Republicans are joined at the hip, philosophically speaking.
Education. Although Republicans talked about abolishing the federal Department of Education in the 1980s, the budget of the department skyrocketed during the presidency of George W. Bush. When Republican have had control of both houses of Congress and the presidency (most recently during Trump’s first two years as president), they have not even attempted to cut federal spending on education, let alone abolish the Department of Education. Both Democrats and Republicans think that the government should take money from some Americans to educate the children of other Americans in public schools or by means of educational vouchers. Members of neither party believe that education should be entirely left up to the states and that the federal government should have absolutely nothing to do with it. And on the state level, in states with Republican trifectas, no steps have been taken to separate school from state. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that some Americans should be forced to pay for the education of other Americans.
Drug war. It is a myth that Democrats are “bad” on drugs while Republicans are “good.” Although many Democrats claim that they want to see marijuana legalized on the federal level, whenever Democrats have had control of both houses of Congress and the presidency (most recently during Biden’s first two years as president), they have not even attempted to do so. On the state level, where there have been many ballot initiatives to legalize the recreational or medical use of marijuana that have passed, they have always passed by margins that show that it is not just Democrats who are voting in favor of these initiatives. Democrats and Republicans likewise both want to heavily tax and regulate marijuana in states where it has been legalized. But marijuana is only one of many drugs that Americans want to partake of. Both parties are firmly against the legalization of harder drugs. The drug war is an issue where many Republicans are even worse than Democrats. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe in a government drug war.
Entitlement programs. Although Democrats often accuse Republicans of wanting to end government welfare programs, nothing could be further from the truth. Republicans may want to spend less money on certain programs, tighten eligibility requirements on select programs, and increase work requirements on other programs, but they have no philosophical objection to income-transfer programs or wealth-distribution schemes. Just look at the Republican attitude toward the largest and most expensive welfare program in existence — Social Security — a program that takes money from those who work and gives it to those who don’t. According to their platform, Republicans believe that “all options should be considered to preserve Social Security. Saving Social Security for future generations is “our moral obligation.” The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that the government should take money from some Americans and give it to other Americans.
Health care. Although Republicans used to rail against Obamacare, they not only failed to repeal it when they controlled both houses of Congress under President Trump but rarely even mention it anymore. Both Democrats and Republicans fully support socialized medicine through Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They don’t believe that health care is a service that can and should be provided on the free market just like any other service. Instead, they believe in massive government intervention in the health-care and health-insurance industry. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that some Americans should be forced to pay for the health care of other Americans.
Tariffs. Perhaps it used to be true that Democrats favored tariffs while Republicans favored free trade. However, since the ascendancy of Donald Trump, many Republicans have let their latent protectionism come to the surface. The Republican faithful cheer Trump when he talks about raising tariffs to protect American jobs. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe it is the job of the government to “protect” certain industries.
Military spending. If there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans wholeheartedly agree on, it is increased military spending every fiscal year even though the U.S. military budget is already larger than the next 10 highest foreign defense budgets combined. Much of U.S. military spending is wasted on maintaining hundreds of foreign military bases, stationing tens of thousands of American soldiers on foreign soil, and engaging in pointless military operations. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe in obscene military budgets for offense instead of defense.
Foreign policy. U.S. foreign policy has been reckless, belligerent, and meddling for a great many years. Yet, an interventionist foreign policy has been the norm no matter which political party occupied the White House or controlled the House or Senate. Both Democrats and Republicans think that the government should take money out of the pockets of American taxpayers and put it in the hands of foreign governments and organizations in the form of foreign aid. They both feel that America — against the wisdom of John Quincy Adams — should go abroad and seek monsters to destroy. The billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars that went into the sinkhole of Ukraine had bipartisan support. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that the United States should police the world and intervene in other countries as it sees fit.
Digging deeper
Even when it seems on the surface that Democrats and Republicans have notable differences, digging a little deeper shows that this is not really the case. Take, for example, the issues of guns and taxation.
Guns. Many Democrats don’t hide the fact that they don’t think anyone should own a gun unless he works for the government: police, sheriff, highway patrol, military, secret service, FBI, DEA, ATF, and IRS agents. But don’t think for a minute that this means that Republicans actually believe in the Second Amendment and gun freedom. Both parties believe that most federal gun laws, including the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), should be retained even though they infringe upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms. And it’s not just on the federal level. In my red state of Florida, where Republicans have had a solid majority in the legislature, three new gun-control bills were passed and signed in to law by the Republican governor after the school shooting in Parkland in 2018. The bottom line is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that the federal government has the authority to pass gun legislation even though such is not authorized by the Constitution and is prohibited by the Second Amendment.
Taxation. Republicans are usually for lower tax rates across the board while Democrats are generally in favor of increasing taxes on “the rich.” But not so fast. A quick look at Republican attitudes toward tax reform and refundable tax credits shows that Republicans are not as interested in slashing taxes as they are given credit for.
First, Republicans are always putting forth tax-reform proposals. The one thing they all have in common is that they are always revenue neutral; that is, any revenue loss from tax cuts must be offset by revenue gains either from tax increases, broadening the tax base, closing loopholes, or eliminating deductions or from additional revenue that flows into the federal treasury from economic growth as a result of tax cuts. But any revenue-neutral tax-reform scheme can, by definition, only shift taxes, not lower them. If someone’s taxes are lowered, someone else’s taxes must be increased. Revenue-neutral tax reform implies that government spending is not the fundamental problem that should be addressed.
Second, Republicans are always saying that the tax code contains too many exemptions, credits, loopholes, shelters, exclusions, and deductions and needs to be simplified. Yet, when it comes to refundable tax credits that give people a “refund” of money that they never paid in, Republicans are united with Democrats in keeping them in the tax code. The bottom line when it comes to taxation is: Democrats and Republicans both believe that the government is entitled to a portion of every American’s income.
Democrats and Republicans are just two teams (blue, red) in the same league, two sides of the same coin, two wings (fascist, socialist) of the same bird, and the two faces of Janus. It is because America has a uniparty that the welfare/warfare state continues unabated.
This article was originally published in the January 2024 edition of Future of Freedom.
