Go ahead, faithful readers. Tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.
But it’s my opinion (and opinions are like belly-buttons, everybody has one) that 2012 is the perfect time for a third party to come turn the nation on its head.
Right now I know of no one who’s thrilled with the party they previously voted for, and some of us have been holding our nose to vote through the last several elections. Democrat, Republican — people from both sides are fed up with the bickering, the inability to compromise, the inability to talk, the sound-bites, the lack of concern for what’s going to become of our country as long as the incumbent wins his or her next election.
I hereby invite a third party to seize control. And here’s your platform, my beloved imaginary third party: PAY DOWN THE DEBT.
Nothing else. EVERYTHING must be viewed in terms of whether it builds debt or pays it down. Everything. When you take office, you will issue a memo to every single government employee, and that memo will have two steps:
1) In the morning, you must remind yourself that today you must do something to pay down the debt.
2) At the end of the day, make note of what you did today to pay down the debt.
This is it. Nothing more. Most people are smart and understand that taxes need to go up. Why? To pay down the debt. They understand that services may need to be cut. Why? To pay down the debt.
And imaginary third party, this is what you need: you need a charismatic individual to stand in front of the cameras with his eyes bright and his face tense, and he needs to say this:
“We are a great country. American is a land filled with 250 million great individuals, and we’ve done it before. We’ve pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps to become a country with unparalleled freedoms, and we’ve enjoyed amazing prosperity because of how hard we’ve worked for it. Look at how we pulled together during World War II, each one of us making sacrifices for the good of the nation! We can do it again! That “greatest generation” doesn’t have to have been the greatest. WE can be the greatest generation. They weren’t unique in their ability to work hard for what they love. And we love our country. We can work hard again — sacrifice again — give deeply and generously again! And then our grandchildren can live the lives we want them to live.”
I hereby volunteer my services as a speech writer. Right now, imaginary third party, the stage is right for you to walk in, seize the spotlight, and not let it go. And yes, that scares me because of what else it might entail. But for heaven’s sake, we have to do something, and the folks we have right now in Washington aren’t going to do it for us. It’s time to vote out every incumbent. It’s time to pay down the debt.
Honey, it has been time for a “Third Party” for most of our lives. 😉 The two parties we have are flip sides of the same corrupt coin.
There are already in existance several so called “third” parties. (No, I’m not talking about the Tea Party, it is not a recognized political party) Maybe the time is ripe for the country to start throwing their weight behind one and break the strangle hold of the Rebuplocrates.
…and the Demicans. 🙂
Third parties exist now, but now I think there’s a huge opening for one to really come in and landslide the other guys out of office. The No More Debt Party. People who will say, “You want that program? Awesome. Your legislation for that program has to include funding for that program AND 10% extra which will go toward paying down the debt.”
Most people understand that if they have five, they cannot spend six. Certainly they can’t have five and spend six a million times.
They do exist, but too many people see them as “also ran”, not as legitimate parties/candidates. I had a phone survey the other day that asked my political party. The options were Rebuplican, Democrate or Independant. When I asked about a specific “third” party, I was told they only had those three options. ::sigh::
We still have a way to go.
Wait, you can’t spend 3 times your income? Someone needs to explain that to our representives. 😉
One of my favorite fortune-cookie type quotes was “He who has four and spends five has no need of a wallet.”
The phone surveys are designed to get the average opinion from the average person, and they NEVER get shades of grey. Kind of like our current political system, actually. They fit well with one another. :-b
Dave Ramsey probably has enough of a following to pull it off.
Dave Ramsey for president! Cool beans. Although he might make the average citizen cut up her credit cards. 🙂
You should be careful what you wish for You might get it. In Australia the balance of power in the Federal Parliament is held by the Greeens. In NSW it is held by the Shooters and Fishers Party. They extract concessions like closing marine parks before voting with the government. No they want to introduce shooting as a school sport. If a third party holds the balance of power they are inevitably a minority viewpoint who couldn’t get elected by the majority.
Belgium shows a better way. They have not had a proper government for about a year. It doesn’t seem to have downgraded the functioning of society.
Australia got itself into the fix of not having a major party with a clear majority because many people voted for third parties. This is a recipe for not getting very much done at all, and continual grandstanding in the media by all politicians involved.