It’s a Party: Republicans and Democrats Have Very Different Plans for You

Senate Republicans and Democrats announced their respective agendas on January 17 and 24, 2005, setting the tone for this year’s 109th congressional session.

The parties introduced competing philosophies of government, each consisting of specific plans for healthcare, Social Security, and other life issues.

It’s important that we, the people, understand the differences between these philosophies - we need to know which party’s beliefs and ideas most closely match our own.

While the dominating philosophy is clearly the Republican one (Republicans have control of the House, the Senate, and The White House), Democrats offer an important set of ideas as well. Their proposals not only challenge the Republican leadership, but also offer Americans the opportunity to see what would have happened had they voted for the other guys (and gals).

Just as some nontraditional movies offer various endings for viewers to consider, Congress provides Americans with a glimpse of an alternative government - the Democrats suggest that alternative, even though they don’t currently have the power to realize it.

What each party wants to do about healthcare

In their press conference, Republicans introduced a package of 15 bills called "A Healthy America," which strives to improve healthcare availability, quality, and affordability.

Although Senate Republicans have not offered the details of this plan to the public, they have said that they hope to expand heath savings accounts in order to encourage more Americans to save money for healthcare emergencies. The strategy here is to increase individual responsibility for healthcare and to decrease communal responsibility.

In contrast to President Bush’s vision for an "ownership society" in which individuals are responsible for their own needs, the Democrats’ slogan is "we’re all in this together." They are in favor of a more collective health care system in which Americans pool their resources to support each other.

For example, Senator John Kerry has introduced a bill called the "Kids First Act of 2005," which strives to cover all 11 million uninsured children in the United States. The bill would pay states to sign up eligible kids for already-existing state-sponsored healthcare programs like the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). For more on SCHIP, click here.

The Kids First Act would also help lower-income parents buy into their employers’ health care plans. And parents who would not normally qualify for state assistance will be able to buy state health coverage at cost. Further, Kerry would link children’s health care coverage with the child tax credit, so that parents who do not cover their kids would not be able to collect the credit.

To pay for the program, the bill would roll back tax cuts for those who earn more than $300,000.

What each party wants to do about Social Security

The contrasting slogans "ownership society" and "we’re all in this together" carry through to the parties’ visions for Social Security.

President Bush and many Senate Republicans (though not all) are in favor of allowing workers to divert about two-thirds of their Social Security tax dollars into private accounts. He believes that the public system is failing and that private accounts will provide workers with more stability, more money, and a sense of ownership. For more on Bush’s Social Security plan, click here.

Democrats are in favor of strengthening the current Social Security system, which they say is not in crisis. Democrats are against Bush’s plan; they argue that subjecting Social Security to private market forces would make it less stable.

Democrats and other critics point out that retirement income has three legs: Social Security, pensions, and private savings. The only one of the three that is not subject to the ups and downs of the market is Social Security. By turning Social Security over to Wall Street, they say, retirement becomes less secure.

Democrats prefer to invest in pensions and Medicare’s prescription drug program, issues that they consider to be in more of a crisis than Social Security.

Differences in party perspective

Republicans are focused on making Bush’s tax cuts permanent. Tax cuts are a top priority, second only to the administration’s Social Security plan. They say that tax cuts have contributed to economic growth and job growth.

In contrast, Democrats would like to repeal some of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in order to fund social programs, such as Kerry’s "Kid First Act."

Instead of solidifying tax cuts, Democrats want to restore overtime protection to 6 million workers and increase the minimum wage for 7.4 million workers. They say that these changes will more effectively spur economic and job growth.

Republicans and Democrats also have deep philosophical differences when it comes to reproductive rights. Republicans say their "Child Custody Protection Act" will protect families by preventing girls from crossing state lines to have abortions.

Democrats, who believe that abortion should be "rare," safe, legal, and available, have instead produced a plan to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Their "Putting Prevention First" plan would increase funding for family planning and improve contraceptive coverage by assuring equity in prescription drug insurance.

The parties are not the same

Even though people often say, "oh, they’re all the same," the Republican and Democratic parties are clearly quite different.

Through WomenMatter, you can discuss these differences. We don’t want to wedge women apart, but rather bring them together to dialogue. To log onto one of our online forums, click here.

WomenMatter encourages women to educate themselves on the issues and then approach their representatives with ideas.

Even though the election is over, your voice is vital. Make sure your leaders know what’s important to you. To see how your representatives vote and to contact them, click here.

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Update Posted on: 1/30/2005