Yeah, I said it. Its time for a mass exodus of black people from the Democratic Party.

No, we shouldn’t all go register as Republicans.

For every criticism that I give the Democrats, the Republicans are about 10 times worse. On top of most issues, the Republicans gerrymander districts along racial lines to maintain their power in several southern and midwestern states. Republicans are known for using voter suppression tricks to win elections. In the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, there were tons of voting machines found locked away in closets and polling places in black districts shutdown. The state Attorney General is tasked with making sure the election runs smoothly, but he was running in that gubernatorial election against Democrat Stacy Abrams.  I dont know how anyone could overlook these obviously racist tactics used by the Republicans.

Now back to the Democrats.

For decades in this country, the black vote has overwhelmingly gone to the Democratic Party. When I think of Democrats that black people have loved over the years, I think of Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B.Johnson , Bill Clinton, and of course Obama.

Some of those guys have accomplishments that have had major impacts on our community. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 both come from Lyndon B Johnson.

Some will argue that Johnson signing those acts into law was a deliberate ploy to keep blacks voting for the Democratic Party for years to come. I have no idea, but its time for black people to examine what the Democratic Party is now. The problem with  Democratic Party is that they have become Republican lite and they aren’t trying to hide it anymore.

In Bed with Corporations

The Democratic Party has been having an affair with Corporations for over 20 years. The Democratic Party used to attempt to care about working class people and unions. Bill Clinton changed the direction of the whole party.

Now, the Democratic Party has become a slave to corporate donations just like the Republican party. California’s fight for statewide universal healthcare is a perfect example. California, as a state, pays for 70% of the healthcare bill in the state. So, a single payer system was and still is a very popular idea. Polls show Californians favor single payer healthcare. California has roughly the same population as Canada and a larger economy than Canada. Canada is able to provide universal healthcare to all of its citizens.

In June 2017, California Democratic state Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon successfully blocked the single payer bill from being voted on by the Assembly in 2017. The bill had been passed by the California state senate.

Rendon, a former supporter of single payer, gave his excuses on why he wouldnt allow a vote on the Single payer but we shouldnt buy those. We should follow the money.

Since 2012 Rendon has accepted 82,000 from healthcare corporations, 101k from pharmaceutical companies, and another 50,000 from major health insurers. All of these groups oppose single payer healthcare because single payer would negatively affect thier businesses.

So lets get this straight, Rendon has accepted over 200,000 in donations from groups whose business interest would suffer from single payer healthcare and he blocks single payer from even being voted on in the assembly? What about the 66% of Californians who support a single payer system? Does the money of a few go further than the voices of the majority. In America, yes.

Rendon isnt the only Democrat guilty of doing the bidding of corporations. He is just one of many examples. There is a civil war going on in the Democratic Party right now. The establishment Democrats (Nancy Peloski, Fienstien, Chuch Schumer, Cory Booker) vs the progressive wave ( Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocosio Cortez, Tulsi Gabbard). The Establishment democrats have strong ties to Wall Street Banks, aggressive foreign policies and are pro business. The progressive Democrats are more populist. They are more focused on how they can help the working class families in America. While you may hear establishment Democrats talk about partnerships like NAFTA, you’ll hear progressives talk about single payer and tuition free public college.

War

Do you know who the last president to NOT drop a bomb on a foreign country was? Spoiler* It was Jimmy Carter and he was President from 1976-1980. Every President since has bombed another country. Democrat Bill Clinton bombed 5 countries ( Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Serbia). Democrat Barack Obama bombed 7 different countries(Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan). During Obama’s last year in office, America dropped 26,171 bombs. Thats an average of 72 bombs a day.

Why though? Why is the U.S. bombing anyone? 9/11 happened almost 20 years ago and Osama Bin Ladin has been dead for 8 years. A survey showed that 92% of the men living in Southern Afghanistan had never even heard of 9/11. So why? Lets follow the money.

Tim Kane ( Hillary’s VP) and Bill Nelson, both democrats, receive more money from defense PACS (Political Action Committees)  and large donor defense contractors than any Republican Senators in 2018. Many Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives receive money from defense contractors as well. Why does that matter though?

It matters because war is profitable. In 2015, defense contractor Lockheed Martin made 34.66 BILLION dollars by selling weapons to the United States. In total during 2015, the United States spent 598.5 Billion on buying weapons from defense contractors.

Recently, the United States increased its military budget to more than 700 billion dollars. Before the increase, the United States spent more money on defense every year than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the UK and Japan COMBINED. Thats insane. The United States hasn’t been attacked by another country since 1941 so why in the hell does the government spend so much money on defense? Trying to fatten the pockets of the defense contractors who fund their political campaigns.

The Democrats overwhelmingly supported the military budget increase. 60% of the Democrats in the house voted for the increase and 89% of the Democrats in the senate did. The Democrats don’t do anything but sell out.

They constantly tell us that universal healthcare, college free tuition, and a host of other progressive ideas are unrealistic but they don’t mind voting to spend damn near endless dollars on war.

Selling Out on a host of issues

Remember when Obama said all lives matter? Obama said that black people aren’t lying when we complain about abuse and harassment that we receive from the police but we should back it up with stats. They can’t keep stats for all the hell that black people catch from police. What stat is there for police officers pulling you over, holding a flash light in your face and laughing at you as you tell them you can’t see?

Remember when Hillary Clinton said All lives matter? She went to a church near Ferguson Missouri, a week after the Dylan Roof massacre in Charleston, and told them all-lives-matter.

At times, Obama and Clinton have said black-lives-matter but they’ve both made it clear that all lives matter. They are both very intelligent people so they understand what we mean when we say black-lives-matter. We don’t mean other lives dont matter and they know this. They are just playing to the ears of white liberals in this country who are still really racist. Many liberals don’t want to hear you say black-lives-matter because they dont think black-lives-matter. They’d rather us never bring race up and act like we all live in harmony. Obama and Clinton saying all lives matters allows white liberals to get away with not engaging in the fact that racism continues to plague black communities in liberal run areas across the country.

Do you remember the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) controversy in early 2018? Congress was trying to avoid a government shutdown but the Republicans tried to pass a budget without the DACA protections included? The Democrats stood firmly for about two seconds and then Democrats caved in. They agreed with the Republicans to bring up DACA “down the line” if they voted for the budget deal. I’m sure the Republicans laughed at how stupid the Democrats were for agreeing to that. There about 700,000 people who need DACA protections in this country and the Democrats did a terrible job of standing up for them.

The Democrats are also selling out as we speak on the border wall. Our Commander and Orange slice, Donald J Trump, promised during his campaign that Mexico would pay for his stupid wall. Psych, Mexico aint paying for a damn thing. If the Wall gets built, which I highly doubt, the United States tax payer would be paying for it.

As of December 2018, Trump wants 5 billion dollars to build his wall along the southern border. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the senate democrats, say they won’t agree on any wall budget that is more than 1.5 Billion dollars. Why would they agree to spend any money on building a wall?

Most of the undocumented immigrants in this country are people who have come legally and overstayed their Visa time limit. Border crossings have been declining steadily over the last 20 years, there is private land along the border that the government would have to seize from land owners, the terrain includes mountains and rivers, and there are no studies to prove how the wall would effect the environments from plants and animals in the area. There are over 100 endangered species that live in habitats along the border.

The Democrats shouldn’t be looking to negotiate any price for a fence/wall. They should be looking to put more money back into communities that lack resources and the poor infrastructure across the country.

Wrapping Up

Healthcare, war, and race issues aren’t the only issues that the Democrats have been selling out on. There is fracking, unions, campaign financing reform, and others. The biggest difference that I see between the two parties are their stance on a few social issues like LBGTQ rights.

Because the Democrats are starting to mirror the Republicans, there has been a brewing civil war within the party. The progressives are starting to rise up. They don’t take big donor money or money from PACs. They fight for issues that resonate more with common people.

Some of these people call themselves Justice Democrats and some of these people just call themselves progressives. Alexandria Ocosio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ro Khanna, are leading voices of Democrat politicians who want to change the party from within. They’re forcing the establishment to focus on issues like a Green New Deal which would provide jobs and help the country run on more clean energy.

Its going to be an uphill battle to change the Democratic party. The establishment has money, mainstream media backing, and most of its registered voters are fooled into thinking that the party is progressive.

There are some hard truths in this article but its clear that the Democrats have been corrupted by big money just like the Republicans have. Many people that I’ve talked to will tell you that they can’t tell the difference between either party. Whether you agree or not, people feeling like the two parties represent the same status quo is a major issue.