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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wh6hl wrote

As a non-American, since Republican Party/candidates and Democratic Party/candidates are in their own categories, what political groups fall under the Conservative and Liberal categories?

Edit: Guys, I’m very specifically asking about the data on this chart. Not about the US political system in general.

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jakenash t1_j8wk0na wrote

As an American, I don't know what that means either. I'm assuming "liberal groups" and "conservative groups" are PACs that support one party or the other, but aren't officially associated with that party.

And that highlights another disgusting part of our campaign finance system. Donations to PACs are less restricted and much easier to hide. They're supposed to be separate from specific parties and candidates, but many candidates run their own PACs. It's a giant, unlimited loophole in the system. Everyone knows it. But nobody can close it because of a bad Supreme Court decision.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wkta0 wrote

So if these are PACs then it’s effectively the same as donating to the party, just splitting hairs really?

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jakenash t1_j8wld1e wrote

In theory, no. In practice, absolutely.

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KindlyQuasar t1_j8xiggf wrote

>So if these are PACs then it’s effectively the same as donating to the party, just splitting hairs really?

Exactly. The above user mentioned a bad Supreme Court decision, and they nailed the problem right on the head. Look up Citizens United.

Check out this article How Stephen Colbert Taught Americans About Super PACs to learn more, and bonus points because Stephen Colbert is awesome and showed us how ridiculous it all really is.

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Mo-shen t1_j8x9mv6 wrote

Traditions republicans are conservative and Dems are liberals.

That's however changed and we see if it changes back. Dems are still mostly liberals, and likely have become more liberal during said change. The republicans however have really become not conservative any longer. The best descriptor of them now would be anti-liberal.

They don't really put out platforms any longer. By and large their main function is to oppose whatever it is the democrats are trying to do or support.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8xa4aj wrote

Yeah I know all that. I’m just asking what “political groups” are being referred to in this graph since it separates out the Parties themselves.

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Mo-shen t1_j8xafeb wrote

Ah ok. Blue is Dems and red is repubs.

Again as many have pointed out it's pretty normal for the super rich to give to both parties only a lot of time they hide the money given to one party.

The US has a dark money issue because of scotus.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8xaqst wrote

Lol yes I know about blue and red! But this chart shows a difference between “democratic party” and “liberal political groups” and same with Republican/conservative groups. So what are these “political groups” if not the party themselves?

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Mo-shen t1_j8xbwba wrote

Well technically there are different groups but really in the US there are kind of really only the two.

This is because of how us elections work where splitting tickets to more than 3 people running tends to hurt the most popular side. It's not like parliaments where they build a coalition after people vote.

So if you look at the US senate you have almost all rep or dem and then 1 or 2 independent.

Also looking at voters you do have like the green party but that's not really a thing when talking about presidential or congressional political. Those groups are really just spoiler candidates. You also have independents, not registered for any of them, but that just means they don't get to vote in most primaries, and really then vote Dem or rep.

There has been a move in some areas to move to ranked choice voting. Alaska and Maine have both done this. If this happens nationally it will have a huge boost for those other spoiler parties and likely make a more functional democracy.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8xclaj wrote

Ok. I know everything you’re saying. I think you are just misunderstanding my question. It’s ok!

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420everytime t1_j8wimut wrote

Republicans are conservative to ultraconservative.

Democrats are moderates to conservatives with a handful of liberals that don’t have any real power in the party

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wiryw wrote

Yes I understand that, but what are the groups that don’t fall under Republican/Democrat categories here? Other political parties?

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420everytime t1_j8wkjqr wrote

Not really you have to run in one of those two parties for any real chance of being elected.

People like Bernie sanders say they are democratic socialists but run as a democrat while people like Rand Paul say their are libertarians but run as republicans.

American libertarianism is just another form of conservatism. American libertarians don’t support actual libertarian policies like open borders or making all highways toll roads

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wknxz wrote

Ok so no one else understands what groups are being referred to in this chart?

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AdminsAreLazyID10TS t1_j8wm5ti wrote

No. It's poorly sourced nonsense from someone that doesn't know even know what liberal means.

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vonstubbins t1_j8wxt2h wrote

That's debateable. Friedman had deeply liberal beliefs and openely talked about donating to groups with very liberal values.

The chart don't represent political parties at all, just the ideological leanings of the groups they donated to.

Edit: in fact, I'm pretty certain most people are misunderstanding what this shows. They're trying to make it sound like the money either went to the Democrats or the Republicans. That data will be in there, but they'll be in there alongside organisations like the ACLU.

Groups like this. https://www.startguide.org/orgs/orgs00.html

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AdminsAreLazyID10TS t1_j90lor9 wrote

I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt in that regard, but many of those groups aren't "liberal" so much as they are socially progressive or charitable.

It's especially suspicious in that they have separated "liberal" from "Democratic" and "Republican" party and candidate giving specifically, a detail that you will see with a brief glance through the comments has escaped most of the great minds of Reddit. Especially especially because so many political parties outside the US that broadly share those views simply go by the Liberal Party.

The inescapable conclusion is that OP either has a clear agenda and knowledge and has phrased his post deliberately misleadingly or they simply have an extremely inaccurate definition of liberal... and an agenda.

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420everytime t1_j8wlj2k wrote

FTX bought the whole Government that would in both parties.

Crypto is regulated as a commodity under the agriculture committee, so the politicians FTX got the closest with were those on the agriculture committee.

Specifically so when his Ponzi scheme blew up he would get favorable treatment regardless of who's in office

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wlqtt wrote

So the liberal/conservative groups on this chart is the agriculture committee?

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420everytime t1_j8wma3r wrote

A significant amount yes.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wmdtm wrote

The committee counts as both?

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420everytime t1_j8wqiiq wrote

Yes. All committees have members of both parties usually with the party in majority running the committees

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wqpl5 wrote

So this graph would divide up the number of members in each party on the committee by how much was donated to them and apply it that way?

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BrandenburgForevor t1_j8wxnmf wrote

That's not it, it's that the terms they are using are intentionally useless and vague.

You're not supposed to understand what they really mean

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delcopop t1_j8wkysx wrote

What the user said above you is incorrect.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8wleat wrote

Ok. Do you know what this graph is referring to? Cause I keep getting factoids about the right vs left leanings of US Political parties instead of answers lol. Help!

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delcopop t1_j8wob71 wrote

The fact of the matter is there are conservative and liberal members in each party. I am a conservative republican and TRUST ME… there are many elected republicans that I disagree with more than some moderate democrats.

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apriljeangibbs t1_j8woj4m wrote

Sorry, what how is that related to this chart?

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delcopop t1_j8worz5 wrote

This chart stinks. The fact that non-partisan is on there (that category does not exist) is ridiculous.

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Driblus t1_j8xacok wrote

Being a conservative republican is like being lawful evil in D&D and being blissfully unaware.

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AdminsAreLazyID10TS t1_j8wm219 wrote

It's correct, other than not knowing what a liberal is outside an extremely American definition.

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rewt127 t1_j8xc2j6 wrote

Lol?

The republican party is far closer to the current moderate position than the Democrat party.

What is the moderate position on issues today.

Unions. Sure, you should be able to unionize if you want, but also leave if they don't represent you. Who champions right to work? The Republicans.

Transgender. The moderate position is opposition to procedures on children without parental consent. But otherwise, "you do you mate". Which is slightly closer to the republican position than the Democrat one.

Ukrainian war. The moderate position is "I dont care about Ukraine, but it is the biggest issue facing our closest allies in Europe and so we should help." Which is in this case slightly closer to the Democrat position than the republican one.

Taxation. The average American likes lower taxes. The moderate position is tax breaks for lower and middle class earners. This is closer to the republican position and is pretty much right on populist conservatism. The Republicans want lower taxes for everyone, but often favor high income earners. The Democrat position is higher taxes for everyone but with a larger impact on higher income earners.

COVID. The moderate position is that you should do things like vaccination and mask wearing, but you should not be forced. Which again, fits closer to the republican position of "you should do this if you are at risk, but its not the place of the state to force it".

You seem to forget that US citizens are some of the most conservative people on average of all western nations.

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420everytime t1_j8xdxwq wrote

The last republican president literally separated minority children from their parents and put them in concentration camps. That’s as ultra conservative as you can get.

Also, helping out your friends when they get in trouble is the moderate position. It’s not like we’re giving them boatloads of cash. We are mostly just giving them old equipment from the vietnam war that we won’t use anymore.

It says a lot about you that you think abandoning your friends at a time of need is the moderate position

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rewt127 t1_j8xev2f wrote

This just shows how little you understand.

Child trafficking across the southern border was a serious issue. It's not some 1% of children crossing the border situation. It was significant. So they separated the children from the "parents" so they could ensure that the child wasn't being trafficked.

Once they confirmed the parents and child's identity they were reuinted.

Also they weren't put In "concentration camps". They were in holding facilities that held then for a week or 2 so they could get identification done, and then send them home.

These were the same holding facilities used during the Obama administration. Which if you know anything about deportation statistics you know that Obama and Trump weren't wildly different.

You drank the partisan kool-aide. Trump wasn't some special evil. He continued standard border policy, he just shined a brighter light on it.

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420everytime t1_j8xg1a9 wrote

That’s many lies.

Neither Obama nor Biden separated children from their parents. They both separated children from human traffickers but that’s completely different.

Also, some of the children kidnapped by the trump administration aren’t reunited with their parents.

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rewt127 t1_j8xgy99 wrote

"They both separated children from human traffickers but that is completely different". They didn't leave the kids with the traffickers and then do their investigation. They, just like Trump, do the separation immediately. Children and adults are processed separately. This is literally standard procedure and has been for decades.

"Also some of the children kidnapped by the...... reuinited with the parents" got any evidence that parents who can prove they are the legal guardians of a child were not reunited with the child? Because other than a potential few cases of allowing the child to stay in the US with family who got in legally (grand parents, cousins, etc). I dont think you can find any evidence of this. You might find some sob story, but never do they provide legal documents from the Government of Mexico or Nicoragua, etc to prove this. So the US cannot in good conscience return the child to potential traffickers.

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AdminsAreLazyID10TS t1_j8wlwsb wrote

They're all supposed to be liberals. America is a liberal democracy, ideologically speaking.

That some conservatives don't care about human rights, the separation of powers, or democracy in general anymore is another discussion.

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OldMansPissBag t1_j8wo941 wrote

Liberal and conservative are temporally relative terms in the context you’re using them. Conservatives try to conserve ideas and arguably that would include ideas like human rights, democracy, and federalism. Liberals try to push new ideas, or currently unpopular ideas, into the mainstream.

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EOwl_24 t1_j8x22x6 wrote

Liberalism just means granting more freedoms. It can pretty much be right or left, but in America liberal is an ideology between moderate and progressive

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OldMansPissBag t1_j8x9pjw wrote

That seems like a loaded definition that necessarily implies that liberalism is good in some sense.

Either way, these definitions can mean different things and there isn’t one true way of defining them because they’re used in different ways — even in America.

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420everytime t1_j8wn585 wrote

I don’t think those people are another discussion because the ultra conservative wing runs the Republican Party. It was different 30 years ago, but after republicans stole the 2000 election from Gore they let the far right run the party

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