Setanta wrote: As an irnoic historical note, the Republicans acquiesced in the passage of the Social Security Act (1934? 1935?--i'd have to look it up) only after a promise that the trust fund would not be invested in the stock market.
I didn't know that. This is ironic indeed.
Setanta wrote:As far as identifying the Democrats and the left, i find that rather absurd, although i would understand why someone in Europe less well-informed than you are, might see it in such terms.
You definitely have a point here. But please note that I identified the Democrats with "the left side
of this debate", not with "the left". I see nothing wrong with that. "Left" and "right" indicate relative positions in this context, so aren't comparable to black and white, which are absolutes.