Nov 4, 2018 4 min read

Dave Ball presented a version of Democratic ideology (Oct. 21 op-ed) that is unrecognizable to those of us who call ourselves Democrat. So as a lifelong Democrat, let me set the record straight on some of Ball’s most egregious misrepresentations.

First and foremost, Democrats do NOT oppose any constitutional rights. The First Amendment protects our freedom of religion, speech, free press and the right of citizens to assemble peacefully. It also forbids the government from promoting one religion over others. It is the current Republican administration that is relentlessly attacking the free press, attempting to limit our ability to peacefully protest and is promoting one religion over others. We are and always have been the party that supports religious freedom, respects the freedom of the press, supports free speech and the right to assemble peacefully.

Democrats absolutely support the Second Amendment right to bear arms. We are not coming for your guns. We are gun owners ourselves. We do support enforcing our current laws requiring background checks and closing loopholes that allow guns to be purchased without a background check. We would like to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and those convicted of domestic violence.

Democrats do not support open borders and blanket amnesty. Republicans often demonize and dehumanize immigrants by referring to them as criminals, animals, rapists and terrorists. Democrats do not perpetuate these negative and inaccurate generalizations of immigrants. We recognize immigrants as people who want to come to this country to create a better life for their family, as our own immigrant ancestors did years ago.

After wildly misrepresenting Democratic ideology, Ball then claims the Republican ideology naturally leads to a very prosperous economy, while Democratic ideology leads to a lack of economic prosperity. The Republican Party loves to claim it is the party of fiscal responsibility and booming economies, but if you examine historical facts, it is simply not true. Republican administrations of late have significantly increased the federal deficit, with George W. Bush being among the top three presidents in U.S. history for increasing the federal deficit. President Trump, instead of eliminating the federal deficit as promised, has significantly added to it. With Trump’s tax cuts, the amount of tax revenue collected has plummeted. With no reduction in federal spending, the federal deficit is ballooning. As for the economy, when Bush handed the economy over to Obama, the United States was in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the government had just bailed out the banks to the tune of $700 billion to prevent a collapse of the financial system. By the end of Obama’s presidency, the economy was thriving.

We are tired of the divisiveness, the us versus them, the left versus right. When you take the time to engage Democrats and Republicans about the issues, the reality is we are not that far apart. We all want the same things. We want to raise our families in a safe world, we want the opportunity to create a good life for our families and we want a government that supports these efforts, not hinders them. Democrats want to work together with Republicans to ensure we have affordable and accessible health care, family-sustaining jobs, an infrastructure that can support a growing economy and for our children to receive a high-quality education. If you are ready to reject the divisiveness of this current administration and you want to work together to renew an America where anybody with enough hard work and persistence can achieve the American Dream, then the Democratic Party welcomes you.

Christina Proctor is first vice chair of the Washington County Democratic Committee and State Committee representative for Washington County in the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee.