What single idea or policy pushed you to be a democrat?

Yup.

I look forward to reading posts of yours that advocate reducing corporate welfare and perhaps until that is better, less posts about social welfare.

I don't like either or really. I think our welfare system for the poor is needed though.

color me surprised

@n64dd: If the Phillips Curve is dead then we need to find out why the disconnect exists and then either fix it or find out what substitute mechanisms we can use to blunt recessions and spur growth during downtimes.

The death of the curve implies that workers have little negotiating power even when labor is scarce. Work is still ongoing by very smart people to determine why that breakdown exists (or whether it actually exists at all), but if that's the case that power needs to be restored or a replacement mechanism for balance needs to be implemented.

Initially it was mainly LGBT rights. I saw absolutely no reason why same-sex marriage shouldn't be legalized and it really drove me against the Republicans pretty hard because they were just...wrong, and harming people. Later, I realized that harm extended far beyond LGBT people. Of course, that's extremely obvious nowadays. I also became a strong proponent of church-state separation, and thus want churches far away from the government. Same-sex marriage was the building block of that, but it extends far beyond that. I also accept science. Valuing public education is also important. Among other things.

Ultimately I came to realize that Republicans are against everything I am. Not just believe, but intrinsically am. Democrats aren't perfect, but I sure as heck am not voting for a party that is all about taking away my rights, and the rights of other groups as well. I was raised with a strong conviction against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, religious discrimination (even if I despise the religions themselves, which I do), so to be quite blunt, the Republican party isn't even on the table in my mind.

Makes sense to me.