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As Democrats gather in Chicago, it’s a good time to review just how radical the Democrat Party has recently become. The party of Truman, Kennedy and even Clinton has been hijacked. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the convention Wednesday night.
To illustrate, the following italicized passages are from the 1992 Democrat Party Platform. In 2024, these values and priorities would be at home only in the Republican Party.
In 1992, Democrats vowed to take power from Washington bureaucrats:
“We call for a revolution in government—to take power away from entrenched bureaucracies and narrow interests in Washington and put it back in the hands of ordinary people.”
The 1992 Democrat ticket – presidential nominee Bill Clinton (right) and running mate Al Gore (left) – ran on a platform much more conservative than their party’s 2024 platform. (Getty Images)
In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has imposed nearly $1.5-trillion-worth of new regulations that cost the average American household nearly $16,000 per year.
Democrats in 1992 proposed to reduce the deficit and drive economic growth through smaller government and federalism:
“Democrats in 1992 intend to lead a revolution in government, challenging it to act responsibly and be accountable, starting with the hardest and most urgent problems of the deficit and economic growth. Rather than throw money at obsolete programs, we will eliminate unnecessary layers of management, cut administrative costs, give people more choices in the service they get, and empower them to make those choices. To foster greater responsibility in government at every level, we support giving greater flexibility to our cities, counties and states in achieving Federal mandates and carrying out existing programs.”
In three-and-a-half years, the Biden-Harris administration has added roughly $8 trillion in debt — and it would’ve been many trillions worse if Biden had gotten his way. Currently, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are adding $1 trillion to the debt every 100 days.
The 1992 Democrat platform rejected a tax-and-spend philosophy and promised to promote free enterprise and support American businesses:
“We reject both the do-nothing government of the last twelve years and the big government theory that says we can hamstring business and tax and spend our way to prosperity. Instead we offer a third way. Just as we have always viewed working men and women as the bedrock of our economy, we honor business as a noble endeavor, and vow to create a far better climate for firms and independent contractors of all sizes that empower their workers, revolutionize their workplaces, respect the environment, and serve their communities well. “
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration imposed record regulatory costs and sought to dramatically increase taxes on American businesses, and Harris — scapegoating businesses for the inflation her administration caused — is promising price controls that would put American companies out of business.
It’s almost unimaginable today, but Democrats used to see families, churches and local organizations as the root of American democracy, not the federal government:
Then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich sits with Vice President Al Gore, laughing during President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address to Congress. (Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
“The success of democracy in America depends substantially on the strength of our community institutions: families and neighborhoods, public schools, religious institutions, charitable organizations, civic groups and other voluntary organizations. …
Government’s best role is to enable people and communities to solve their own problems. “
On the other hand, the Biden-Harris administration sought to federalize election laws and weaponized federal government agencies to promote its own re-election. The Biden-Harris conception of “democracy” is using federal power to jail their campaign opponent.
Democrats in 1992 even believed in educational accountability and the essential role of parents in their children’s education:
“Education is a cooperative enterprise that can only succeed if everyone accepts and exercises personal responsibility. Students must stay in school and do their best; parents must get involved in their children’s education; teachers must attain, maintain, and demonstrate classroom competency; school administrators must enforce discipline and high standards of educational attainment; governments must end the inequalities that create educational ghettos among school districts and provide equal educational opportunity for all; and ensure that teachers’ pay measures up to their decisive role in children’s lives; and the American people should recognize education as the core of our economy, democracy and society.”
Rather than seeking to defund and disable the police, Democrats said in 1992:
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“The simplest and most direct way to restore order in our cities is to put more police on the streets.”
Democrats back then espoused the basic American values of personal responsibility, individual liberty, tolerance, faith and family:
Rather than seeking to defund and disable the police, Democrats said in 1992: “The simplest and most direct way to restore order in our cities is to put more police on the streets.”
“Above all the Revolution of 1992 is about restoring the basic American values that built this country and will always make it great: personal responsibility, individual liberty, tolerance, faith, family and hard work.”
It’s a jarring contrast with today’s Democrat party of COVID-19 lockdowns, runaway big-government, ruinous tax increases, government-Big-Tech censorship and grievance politics and divisiveness.
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So, this week when Democrats discuss — or, perhaps more likely, try to obfuscate and spin for the next three months — the Biden-Harris record and agenda, just remember that they would be unrecognizable even to Democrats of the not-so-distant past.
And think about what would happen if these radicals controlled both Congress and the White House, with nothing stopping them from taking America as far left as they want.