I'm puzzled by your sensitivity about the founding fathers. I admire them for their work, yours and mine. It couldn't enter my mind to knock them. (Ours didn't own slaves anyway.)

Equally puzzling is your recognition of the need for a safety net as long as it doesn't involve vote-buying. It doesn't make sense. They go together. Buying votes is common as rain everywhere.

I like Comrade, thanks. "Mate or fellow in work or play or fighting, equal with whom one is usually on friendly terms"---OED