posted April 09, 2008 12:49 PM            

The following quotations reflect the thoughts and strategies of the Democratic Party. But can you guess who said them?

"defeat John McCain"

"Democratic primaries signal a huge upsurge with record-breaking turnout and enthusiasm... the outcome could bring enormous change that puts people's need before warmaking, sleaze and policies that put profits before peoples need. Such an outcome is possible regardless of whether or not Clinton or Obama wins"

"Obama speaks to people's desires and inspires them ... Clinton would likely govern to the left of her husband ...We have a chance to sweep the Republicans from power in a landslide"

"the war must end... It's time to bring the troops home"

"defeat McCain and strengthen Democratic majorities in Congress"

"McCain... is the candidate of the ultra-right and of the big banks... a favorite of the military industrial complex... the favorite of Wall Street...He opposes S-CHIP and universal health care. He supports obscene tax cuts for the super-rich. He supports Bush's war policy and wants to stay in Iraq endlessly and spread that war to Iran. He also unquestioningly supports NAFTA and free trade..."

"tax policy to be moved back to 1970s levels"

"the term "core forces" to refer to those communities who have a special role within and around the working class in bringing about social progress... Labor... African Americans... Latino voters... Women voters. Additionally, youth voters, environmentally-oriented, and peace voters have an opportunity to make their mark on this election."

"work in local communities registering voters from the core forces and mobilizing them to defeat John McCain and to win bigger majorities in Congress."

"Global warming has to be examined within a larger context of capitalism and other environmental problems... Capitalists are to blame for the crisis"

"The peace movement has developed two levels of struggle: one, direct involvement in the campaigns of anti-war candidates as a step in the struggle to end the war; two, continue to mobilize the antiwar movement to become involved in defeating McCain in November... efforts have begun to argue that "Obama is for peace"

The above quotations do not come from Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat (at least not directly). They come from the Communist Party USA, which had its quarterly national committee meeting in late March 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/04/harmonic_convergence.html

Of course this convergence of ideas, policy and rhetoric happened in the mid 70s when communists and socialists infiltrated the democrat party. Their candidates lost big time but they haven't given up.

posted April 09, 2008 02:16 PM            

Other quotes from the linked Communist site:

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"Neither (Democratic) candidate is of the left," Fishman (who chairs the CPUSA political action commission) said, but history teaches us that when people mobilize candidates can be forced to act to do the right things.

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quote:

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Fishman noted some major policy differences between the Communist Party and the Democratic Party. While Democratic candidates seem to favor repealing the worst of Bush's tax cuts for the rich, Communists want tax policy to be moved back to 1970s levels to ensure that the very richest people pay their fair share into the treasury and lift the burden off of working families.

Democratic candidates also appear to support the ongoing war and occupation of Afghanistan, while the Communist Party calls for bringing those troops home as well as ending the Iraq war and transforming US foreign policy.

Also, while the Democratic candidates have offered plans that move toward universal health care, the Communist Party seeks passage of a national health insurance program that is a single-payer, not-for-profit Medicare-for-all system.

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posted April 09, 2008 03:12 PM            

Communist Party USA

Just Being Anti-Bush Is Not Enough To Win

It was no surprise to me that virtually everyone I met during a recent three-week trip across the Midwest was quick to remind me that this election is the most important in their lifetime. While agreeing that the overriding political task is to defeat Bush and his counterparts in Congress and elect Kerry and a more people-friendly Congress, no one reduced this to simply a contest between the Democratic and Republican parties.

This election, they told me, will continue the nearly 24-year struggle against the forces of extreme political reaction who are now entrenched in the White House, Congress and Supreme Court - but with this difference: Nov. 2 could well mark a turning point for better or worse.

A Bush victory would give the ultra-right a green light to ramp up their project to drastically and unilaterally reshape the domestic and international landscape in the interests of U.S. imperialism.

On the other hand, a victory by Kerry and the broad democratic movement that supports him would be a body blow to the extreme right, bring some relief on bread and butter issues, and lift the siege on our nation's constitution.

It also would create a much more favorable political terrain on which the people's movement could struggle for its agenda, beginning with an end to the occupation of Iraq.

Thus the stakes are high, and what adds to the drama is that the electorate is so divided that the outcome will depend on which campaign is able to turn out the biggest vote.

Given these circumstances, what should be the role of left and progressive people? ***Note, Hillary says she's not a liberal, she's a "Progressive".

It is not to parse every word, vet every speech, and scrutinize every statement of Kerry. Nor is it to damn Kerry with faint praise. Rather its main task, as I see it, is to bring into sharper focus the differences in the two lines of policy represented by Kerry and Bush, to delineate the vastly improved political playing field that a Kerry victory would bring, and, above all, to become involved in the grassroots efforts to mobilize the vote.

In so doing, the left will help voters gain an understanding of the bigger picture, extend the practical efforts to reach the electorate, and enhance its connections to the main democratic organizations - connections which are critical to post-election struggles.

Across the country there is a growing anti-Bush feeling, but that alone is not enough. To win requires that millions be convinced that the differences between Bush and Kerry are real, substantial and consequential to their lives on the whole range of issues: Social Security, Medicare, health care, overtime, minimum wage, public education, affirmative action, civil rights, reproductive rights, immigrant rights, gay rights, civil liberties, tax policy, environmental protection, Cuba, preemptive war, and nuclear weapons testing and use.

Even on Iraq, there are differences between the two. But more importantly, the defeat of Bush would be a repudiation of his policies of war and occupation, and that could not be ignored by a Kerry administration.

Thus, the remark heard in some left circles, "I will vote for Kerry but hold my nose," misses the point and is demobilizing. It may bring some momentary self-satisfaction to those expressing it. But it will do little to convince swing, undecided, or stay-at-home voters to go to the polls.

In my experience, aside from right wing talk show hosts and their loyal listeners, few people believe that Kerry is a candidate of the left and progressive movement. Most know that he is closely tied to the U.S. ruling class and a defender of capitalism, as is Bush.

That common class affiliation and fondness for the "free enterprise" system, however, doesn't prevent millions of voters from understanding that Kerry is a political centrist and espouses different policies than Bush.

Nor does it keep them from realizing that a Kerry victory would give the broader movements more political leverage than they now have.

The biggest danger in this election is not that people have unrealistic expectations of a Kerry administration, but rather that a substantial section of voters still believe that it doesn't make much of a difference who they vote for on Nov. 2. The responsibility of left and progressive people is not to spend their time bellyaching over Kerry's shortcomings, but to convince millions of people that there is a choice and that the outcome of this election will have enormous consequences for our nation's future.

posted April 09, 2008 03:26 PM            

Pelosi leader of 'Progressive Caucus'
Dems' likely top House official part of powerful, socialist-linked bloc
Posted: November 11, 2002
1:00 am Eastern
WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the likely new minority leader in the House of Representatives, serves on the executive committee of the socialist-leaning Progressive Caucus, a bloc of about 60 votes or nearly 30 percent of the minority vote in the lower chamber.

Until 1999, the website of the Progressive Caucus was hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America. Following an expose of the link between the two organizations in WorldNetDaily, the Progressive Caucus established its own website under the auspices of Congress. Another officer of the Progressive Caucus, and one of its guiding lights, is avowed socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent.

The Democratic Socialists of America's chief organizing goal is to work within the Democratic Party and remove the stigma attached to "socialism" in the eyes of most Americans.

"Stress our Democratic Party strategy and electoral work," explains an organizing document of the DSA. "The Democratic Party is something the public understands, and association with it takes the edge off. Stressing our Democratic Party work will establish some distance from the radical subculture and help integrate you to the milieu of the young liberals."

Nevertheless, the goal of the Democratic Socialists of America has never been deeply hidden. Prior to the cleanup of its website in 1999, the DSA included a song list featuring "The Internationale," the worldwide anthem of communism and socialism. Another song on the site was "Red Revolution" sung to the tune of "Red Robin." The lyrics went: "When the Red Revolution brings its solution along, along, there'll be no more lootin' when we start shootin' that Wall Street throng. ..." Another song removed after WorldNetDaily's expose was "Are You Sleeping, Bourgeoisie?" The lyrics went: "Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie. And when the revolution comes, We'll kill you all with knives and guns, Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie."

In the last three years, the Progressive Caucus has been careful to moderate its image for mainstream consumption.

"The members of the Progressive Caucus share a common belief in the principles of social and economic justice, non-discrimination and tolerance in America and in our relationships with other countries," the group's statement of purpose explains.

Most of the members of the Progressive Caucus, including Pelosi, opposed authorizing the war on Iraq. In fact, most Democrats in the House opposed the war resolution. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt and 81 other House Democrats supported the move.

"I have seen no evidence or intelligence that suggests that Iraq indeed poses an imminent threat to our nation." Pelosi said in voting against the resolution. "If the administration has that information, they have not shared it with the Congress."

The latest issue of the liberal New Republic bemoans Pelosi's ascendancy to top leadership in her party because of her extreme left positions, calling the Democrat's position "dangerous."

"The ideological vacuum atop the post-Sept. 11 Democratic Party will inevitably be filled," the New Republic said in its trademark TRB column. "And, if it is filled by Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Kucinich, the United States will no longer be a 50-50 nation; it will be a 40-60 nation for a generation."

Pelosi, 62, last year was elected by her Democratic colleagues to be the House Democratic Whip – making her the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Congress even before her expected rise to the role of House minority leader. She also serves on the House Intelligence Committee.

Pelosi represents a liberal congressional district, taking in most of San Francisco. Her votes against the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq and in support of such domestic initiatives as needle exchange programs for AIDS sufferers may not be far out of step with her district constituency. But some suggest the nation's pulse may be another matter.

Pelosi was 47 before she won her first election, after raising five children with her businessman husband, Paul. But she has been involved in politics all her life. Her father was a New Deal congressman from Maryland and later the mayor of Baltimore. Her brother also served as Baltimore's mayor. She was hand-picked to run for Congress by the dying Rep. Sala Burton, whose seat Pelosi won in a special election in 1987.

She has never lost an election.