GOP seeks to destroy Democratic Party

Awhile back we posted a Salon article talking about how the Bush proposals in the coming years have been specifically designed to tear away votes and money from the party. Today, the LA Times took a closer look:

"As the nation's trial lawyers again funneled tens of millions of dollars to Democrats and their causes in the last election, Republicans were crafting a strategy to choke off that money for future campaigns.

President Bush's agenda for the next four years, much of which he will highlight in his State of the Union address tonight, includes many proposals that would not only change public policy but, the GOP hopes, achieve an ambitious political goal: Stripping money and voters from the Democratic Party and cementing Republican dominance for years after he leaves office.

One of the clearest examples is an effort to limit jury awards in lawsuits against doctors and businesses. The caps might not only discourage "frivolous" lawsuits, as Bush argues, but also deprive trial lawyers of income from damage awards that they could then give to Democrats."

Republicans hate lawyers, and love corporations but what they really salivate over with this is depleting the monetary resources needed for Democrats to win elections.

"Bush's plan to alter Social Security, for example, would allow younger workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into privately owned retirement accounts. GOP strategists hope it would also foster a new "investor class" that would vote Republican.
Republican support for free trade undermines labor unions which, like trial lawyers, are a bedrock of the Democratic Party, strategists say.

The president's faith-based initiative, which encourages government funding for religious social service agencies, and his opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage are popular with socially conservative African Americans, who have for decades leaned Democratic but are increasingly viewed as potential GOP voters.

Many black parents, whose children attend struggling public schools, also agree with Republicans' support for school vouchers. And Bush's call to revamp the nation's immigration laws makes the party more appealing to Latinos, another traditionally Democratic group."

This definitely explains why conservatives are pushing such non-conservative reforms such as a guest worker program for illegal immigrants. It's about trying to switch voters, not institute good public policy.

Democrats may scoff at this, but it's very serious business. I seriously doubt SS and immigration reform will happen anyway. However, the tort reform is very passable. However, Republicans are looking to build a stable, governing majority and they are the best position to do it in many decades. As I said earlier, 1964 was a lot worse for them than 2004 was for us. However, another bad election or two and we could find ourselves like the Republicans during the New Deal and the country drifting in a political direction it will take decades to overcome. We must fight this we everything we've got - and now.