House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently sobbed that Democrats are:
... snuffing out the America that I grew up in.
And today Greg Sargent at The Plum Line took a closer look at the Golden Age of Boehner's youth:
- The Republican Party platform of 1956 called for "broadened coverage in unemployment insurance" and "better health protection for all our people." It vowed to "continue vigorously to support the United Nations."
It pledged support for "progressive programs" to expand workers' rights. It vowed an immigration policy that ensured that America would remain a "haven for oppresssed peoples."
- The Republican Party platform of 1960 hailed the GOP's success in extending unemployment insurance. The GOP counted as an achievement its efforts to raise the Federal minimum wage.
The platform hailed expanded Social Security coverage and pledged an aggressive Federal effort to help those struggling with health care costs (in those pre-Medicare days, the primary focus was on the elderly). It pledged to continue robust Federal intervention to preserve the environment.
To (liberally) paraphrase Ronald Reagan, John Boehner and today's GOP didn't leave the Republican Party, they hijacked it.
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