[Marxism] "a broad inclusive party"

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

(1)

INTERVIEW WITH HOWARD DEAN
[INTERVIEWER] To what extent is a clear and unified progressive  
Democratic message and a broad, inclusive party umbrella mutually  
exclusive?

[HOWARD DEAN] They're not mutually exclusive. We can be respectful of  
people's ideas that are out of the mainstream of the party. Pro-life,  
for example, is outside the main stream of the party, and American  
thinking in general. But I think we should be genuinely respectful of  
other people's convictions as long as they don't denigrate the  
humanity of others. There are pro-life Democrats who I admire. People  
who not only oppose abortion—which I don't, I'm pro-choice—but people  
who live their convictions; they're against the death penalty, in  
favor of child welfare programs and universal health insurance. Those  
are the type of pro-life people we should be welcoming.

We don't have to be orthodox—[we shouldn't say] if you don't agree  
with me on this, then you're out. That's the traditional dilemma of  
extremists. The Republicans, being dominated by extreme views now,  
are falling victim to that, where they're fighting with each other  
because they don't have a big enough tent. We ought to have a bigger  
tent but not lose sights of the basic tenants of the party, which are  
about social justice—which includes women's rights.
http://www.newdealmagazine.com/issuesandpolicy/00015.php

____________

(2)

DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS
Jonathan Chait: The lie of the anti-estate tax Democrat
Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Co. need to tell us who they'll tax instead  
of the rich.
June 18, 2006

A WEEK AND A half ago, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas  
took to the Senate floor to decry the estate tax as unfair. "I, for  
one, intend to fight for these family businesses, fight for these  
communities and fight for these jobs in rural America," she preached.  
It was all very moving. Especially if you stand to inherit an  
enormous fortune.

That same day, Lincoln again appeared on the Senate floor, this time  
to decry the lack of funding for federal anti-hunger programs. This  
too was unfair. Lincoln was particularly nonplused by the counter- 
argument that there was insufficient money for such programs.

"I understand our current budget constraints. I know we all do," she  
said, "Yet I didn't create this mess."

Oh, you didn't? Let's look at the main causes of the budget mess.  
There's the 2001 tax cuts. Lincoln voted for those. There's the war  
in Iraq. Lincoln voted for that too. There's the Medicare  
prescription drug benefit, which she likewise supported. Other than  
that, how did you like the budget, Mrs. Lincoln?

. . . [more at]
http://www.latimes.com/business/taxes/la-oe- 
chait18jun18,0,2391587.column?track=mostviewed-homepage
OR http://makeashorterlink.com/?L39F14B4D



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