CH> I was once told the basic (chief identifying characteristic)
 CH> difference between Republicans an Democrats is this:

 CH> Republicans want big government to stay out of big business but
 CH> seek out ways to control our personal lives to suit the needs of
 CH> big business.

 CH> Democrats seek out to regulate big business (via big government)
 CH> while advancing and supporting personal liberties.

the funny thing about the above is that the two sides have slowly changed
over the years... they used to be pretty must opposite from what you have
above... that was "way back" in the '60's and 70's at least...
during that time, the lines became blurred a bit and now we have what we
see today... FWIW: the same thing happened with the Torys and the
Whigs

)\/(ark