Resolved: The Democratic Party is better than the Republican Party

Framework: The burden of the Pro is to prove that the Democratic Party is better than the Republican Party in more ways than the Republican Party is better than the Democratic Party. The contentions in this round. C1: Economy The Democratic Party beats the GOP in overall economic benefits in five ways. 1) increasing the US's GDP ($212 billion compared to the GOP's $165 bil. 2) less inflation (3.81% compared to 4.5%), 3) lower unemployment rates (5.33% compared to 6.2%). Under Bush, 2 million jobs disappeared between 2001 and 2003 alone – 1 million each year he held office. 4) less federal spending (19.6% compared to 20.6%), and 5) deficit reduction. C2: Environment My opponent denies that man-made global warming exists. Since he doesn't know why man-made global warming is a severe problem, I will explain. When we emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, it traps heat in the Earth. When heat is trapped, it causes polar ice caps to melt – the evidence for this is undeniable, as immense chunks of polar ice caps have been breaking off in recent years [1][2]. The effects of polar ice caps melting is disastrous. Here's why: The North Atlantic current is a current that runs from the Equator to Northern Europe and back. The waters are heated at the Equator, and once heated they rush north, where they release heat and are cooled by the polar ice caps. By releasing heat, it ensures that Northern Europe retains a habitable temperature. The water then is cooled by polar ice caps and returns to the Equator. Here's how man-made global warming factors in. By releasing dangerous levels of greenhouse gases, we melt the polar ice caps. By melting polar ice caps, we gradually bring the North Atlantic current to a grinding halt, as there will no longer be a force to cool the water at the North. By bringing the currents to a halt, heat from the Equator will no longer move north. This will lead to drastic climate change in Europe, and then around the rest of the world. Initially, this is global warming. But the end result - some call it a future Ice Age – but for the sake of sounding realistic, let's call it "climate change". As explained, the effects are disastrous. This is the largest impact in today's round; and my opponent and the GOP blatantly ignore it. As for evidence: I took a summer course at UC Davis where Professor Dave Osleger explained this science to the class. Every year, Professor Osleger makes a trip to Antartica for a six weeks to do research that supports these claims. [3][4] In recent news, there is a Pacific island nation that is under threat of being entirely submerged by water due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. [6] Since Democrats are the only ones who even acknowledge this reality, it's clear they are leagues ahead of the GOP. C3: Regulation My opponent narrows this contention down to the CFMA alone. As I proved in C1, the policies enacted by Democrats are much better for the economy than policies enacted by the GOP. The Con has failed to respond except to say in regards to corruption in the CFMA that "both parties do that sort of thing". Well, it's Round 4; my opponent has yet to show us how the Democrats have done anything remotely similar that had such a disastrous effect on our nation. It's clear that regulation is good for the United States – and since the GOP opposes it and the Dems encourage it, the Democratic Party's policies are once again better for the United States. C4: Healthcare I make three points in this contention. 1)First and foremost, and most importantly: Obamacare places healthcare within reach for millions of Americans who once didn't have it. My opponent concedes this fact, and loses this contention by default for doing so. 2)It will reduce the number of healthcare related bankruptcies. As I clarified in Round 2, there are more bankruptcies due to healthcare than anything else. My opponent dismisses this as a "small gain" – contrary to his claim, this represents immense long-term economic gains. 3)The deficit reduction in the upcoming decade will help pull us out of the recession. My opponent states that taxes will increase later – well, we already knew that. He has also stated that Republicans opposed Obamacare simply for the purpose of opposing Obama, which means he conceded to "C7: The Party of No" Thus, you can extend both C4 and C7 for the pro. C5: Gay Rights This point is undeniably in favor of the Democrats; whilst the GOP tries to do anything they can to rid the US of homosexuals by banning gay marriage and trying to prohibit homosexuality itself, Democrats are taking strides in the opposite direction. My opponent's only response is that DADT is a "threat" to the United States; first of all, the scope of this contention is greater than the army itself, and the Democrats clearly win in securing equal rights for gays. The Democratics benefit Americans by accepting - not alienating - a large group of people. C6: Party Strength Simple logic tells us that the party which better represents the American people's interests will have more popular support. Democrats number at 72 million, compared to 55 million for the GOP. C7: The Party of No In C4, my opponent conceded to this point by saying "Republicans don't really oppose the Obamacare reforms… The only real problem they have with Obamacare is that it has Obama's name on it. " This is called obstructionism, and hampers the ability of Congress to pass meaningful, moderate legislation. That is why compromise is important; it ensures that the bills that pass fulfill the interests of as many Americans as possible. The BOP my opponent asks for has been answered. My opponent has also failed to respond to Subpoint B, that the Tea Party is pressuring moderate Republicans to pander to extreme conservatives such as the Tea Party, which also hampers the ability of Congress to deliberate. The GOP's political strategy undermines the purpose of Congress itself. It's clear that the Democratic Party is again better for the United States. C8: Republican Agenda v. Conservative Ideology My opponent has conceded to this point. Republicans have perverted basic conservative ideals in order to maximize short-term benefits without watching out for the long-term economic stability of the United States. Due to the short-sightedness of the GOP, the Democratic Party is once again better for the United States. C9: Framing It seems that my opponent fails to grasp why we have taxes in the United States. Imagine the United States as a local country club – you have to pay to enjoy the benefits. If my opponent thinks taxes are so bad, then he can stop paying them… as long as he is willing to not drive on public roads, stop attending public schools, to buy a car because public transportation will not exist, to cancel his next trip to the hospital, and so on. Taxes are - simply put – a reality. Republicans lie to the American people – it's that simple. By exploring the examples of the "Death Tax" and "Death Panels", it's evident that Republicans will outright lie to Americans in order to keep their wallets stuffed. C10: Bush-era Tax Cuts The Bush-era Tax Cuts just don't logically make sense; The Federal Reserve responded to GOP party policy by stating that in order to help close the gap in our budget, extending the Bush-era Tax Cuts would be a bad idea. Why? Because these tax cuts increase the deficit; they hurt the economy. [5] About the CFMA – Democrats voted for it because they did not know it included deregulatory provisions. Those provisions were added in secret by Republican senators, most notably Senator Phil Gramm. Thus, the recession was clearly caused by Republicans – a win for the Pro. It is evident that the Democrats are better than the GOP in representing America's economic, social, and environmental interests.