 What? You say that you've never heard of the “Two” Party Two-Step? Well you are in luck because I'm going to put my dance instructor's hat on and we are going to spend a little time tripping the light fantastic together. Yes, that means that I am going to teach you the easy to learn, hard to forget steps to this deceptive political dance. Alrighty then, just put on your dancing shoes and let's go.
Just stand in the middle of this room and we're ready to go. This dance has a caller just like a square dance and all you have to do is to listen to him and do exactly what he says. Here he goes now: “Ya take two steps to the right and a small step to the left, Two steps to the right and a very small one to the left, - - SLAM!! Oops, it looks like we just hit the right wall of the room and can go no further. Holy mackerel, we have gone so far to the right that we are pinned to the wall with nowhere else to go! Let's take it step by step taking a look at the way we danced in slow motion to see how we got here. Ya take two steps to the right (Ronald Reagan who actually took us way to the right, George H.W. Bush and a little one to the left (Bill Clinton, even though he's really a Democrat with mini Republican ideals). Two steps to the right (George Bush took both steps and then some himself) and a little one to the left (Barack Obama squandered his potential with intentional compromise with the GOP). By now I think that you are getting the picture and hopefully, see a pattern there. The post LBJ crop of Democratic presidents, especially the last two didn't or never intended to offset the damage to ordinary, non- wealthy Americans that was done by the preceding Republican administrations. I like to say that Bill Clinton did more to enable and advance the future GOP agenda than most Republican presidents and Barack Obama, a man who has appointed a multitude of CEO's and Wall Streeters as “advisors” always seems to make soaring speeches that promise everything, but lead to watered down legislation that benefits the wealthy far more than it benefits ordinary Americans. At this point, you are saying, “How can I change things? What can I do?” The answer to that is to use the analogy of buying a car. If you bought a car from a manufacturer that has, over the years given you lemons that caused you nothing but problems, you'd be looking for a different car manufacturer. Selecting a president is a far more important a decision than your next car because that selection can affect every aspect of your present and future life. You owe it to yourself to find or help your fellow Americans form a third party that looks out for ordinary Americans, not corporations, big banks and Wall Street. America, it's time for a new set of wheels and to learn some new dance steps!
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 Grover Norquist intimidated most of the GOP electeds, forcing them to take a pledge to not raise taxes under any
circumstances. That's an example of government being hijacked by a few people. We can make the pledge concept work for us by taking a pledge of our own. Let's call the pledge, the 99% voter's pledge. Here is the way it can be worded: Since virtually all of the candidates of both parties have passed legislation and supported policies that are not in my best interests and contrary to their lofty and apparently exaggerated campaign promises, I -YOUR NAME HERE- hereby pledge to withhold my vote from both major parties in the next election. My vote will be cast for a truly worthy candidate from a yet unnamed third party that is more responsive to the needs of the average American. The candidate that I, not the corporations and the wealthy, who apparently back both major parties select will support issues that I care about like keeping jobs here in America, putting worker's rights before the rights of Wall Street gamblers and not cutting Social Security and Medicare. My chosen candidate will not raise false flag issues like fixing the deficit with austerity, when the real cause of the deficit was the lack of tax revenue due to the unemployment and underemployment created by the off shoring of jobs due to lowered trade tariffs and “free” trade agreements that the candidates of both major parties supported! I want a candidate who will listen to what I have to say 365 days per year, not just on election day and not spend all of his or her time catering to the demands of corporate lobbyists. That isn't possible under the current “two” party system, because meaningful campaign finance reform can't be passed when the electeds of both parties have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. To sum it all up, I'm on to the scam perpetrated by the politicians of both parties and I'm going to do something about it because this time around, the lesser of two evils is unacceptable! So there you have it. Please take a close look at the pledge and let me know what you think. Let me know if you have any additions that you want me to incorporate into the pledge. By all means, please let me know if you have any ideas of how we can get this document widely distributed. Let's make it a living document that can be a catalyst for real change in our country. Our future is in your hands. The real cause of the economic decline of the middle class and the sharp drop in union membership is a "two" party system that puts corporate interests before that of working people and the poor! If you are one of those "don't confuse me with the facts" party loyalists, you're not going to want to visit my Listen Here! page.
As a working person and proud union member, I'm sick and tired of the condescending, “I know better than you” breed of Democrat. All it takes to draw them out of the woodwork on any form of social media is to say that most Democrats, including the President haven't lived up to their campaign promises. If you add that most Democrats have joined their Republican “pals” in supporting things that can and do hurt unions and America's middle class, you are guaranteed to get at least one obnoxious Kool Aid drinker who takes on the demeanor of a second grade teacher reprimanding an errant seven year old. Saying that we need a third party, a true labor party will bring his or her orgy of condescension to a crescendo and guarantee an immediate and snotty “If you vote for a third party, you help the Republicans win”.
We know that the middle class will die a quick death under the Republicans and WE don't want them to get elected to ANY office. However, the middle class have been dying a slow death under Democrats who let Republicans set government's agenda and meekly comply! That complicity is akin to a crooked boxer who is paid to throw the match by gamblers. The gamblers, in this case being many of America's corporations, Wall Street and the rich whose lobbyists control BOTH parties! The bottom line is that America's Middle Class shouldn't choose a quick death by electing Republicans, an intellectual death by supporting the Tea Party or an agonizing slow death by voting for Democrats. Rather, they should choose life by electing pro-union candidates from a brand new labor party! The new motto of America's middle class should be, “GIVE US HONESTY, DON'T GIVE US DEATH!” Our two party system in it's present state can be compared to old time comedy pairs like Abbott and Costello. The Republicans are the political version of Lou Costello, they say and do inane things like screaming for severe budget cuts while demanding tax breaks for the rich. Incredibly, the mainstream media actually gets many people to take them seriously and vote for them. The Democrats are the Bud Abbott, straight man half of this political comedy team, they give our political system credibility by saying all the things we want to hear like how they are against tax breaks for the rich, etc. Oops, didn't they extend tax cuts for the rich as a concession to the Repuiblicans?
The point of all this is that the same corporate lobbyists visit the politicians of BOTH parties. Democratic blue and Republican red always gets mixed with corporate green! The Republicans are the corporate shock troops that promote the wildest of corporate ideas, bouncing them off the wall to see which ones stick. The Democrats fit into the corporate big picture by acting as the Judas goat, telling us what we want to hear then compromising with the Republicans, giving the corporations what they really wanted in the first place. They tell unions that they are pro union, then support job killing "free" trade agreements that would make Reagan blush. Hey union people, did the Democrats get The Employee Free Choice Act passed yet? Didn't think so! I am writing this article exactly three hours before President Obama's State Of The Union speech. I am going to go out on a limb and say that he will proudly tell the world how the South Korea US Free Trade Agreement will create new jobs. Many union people have carefully examined this agreement and realize that it is another NAFTA! The President will also abandon many of his original supporters by saying things that establish him as a newly minted centrist President. Ladies and gentlemen, after carefully examining both parties, I think you'll want to establish a third party and do it before the middle class no longer exists! Flash!!! This Just In!! As of 8:26 PM EST, I have had a chance to look at the President's prepared State Of The Union speech. I want to take issue with his false assertion that Labor approves of the South Korea US Free Trade Agreement. Only a few unions approve, the AFL-CIO, labor's national organization strongly opposes it! Shame on you, Mr. President! Our "two" party system offers the same endless cycle of promise now, disappoint later every campaign season. Make grandiose promises during campaign season and use the other party as a convenient scapegoat when your corporate backers call in their chips later. The severity of the disappointment is a function of which party is in charge at a particular point in time. I'm going to discuss the Democratic Party because, I'm a union person and because we have a "two" party system that consists of the Pro-Corporate rich man's Party and the Almost Pro-Corporate middle class Party. Unions, at the top levels tend to give the Democrats unconditional and many times undeserved love.
The Democratic Party presents itself as a middle class/poor person's alternative to the clearly pro corporate, pro wealthy Republican Party. The Republicans try to get middle class support by wrapping themselves in a protective shield of patriotism and use their secret weapons distortion, implication and innuendo quite successfully. The Democrats play the role of the middle class and poor person's protector and benefactor with some success. In other words, good cop/bad cop. History repeats itself and subjects us to enough good cop/bad cop cycles to make us think that we are part of a prime time police series. The current "no drama" administration seems to have brought brought the good cop game to a grand crescendo. During campaign season, the President promised his supporters, people who were pummeled by eight years of Bush baloney "change". Over time, almost all of his campaign promises were compromised into oblivion. The initial excuse being that he's "everyone's President" and wants to extend the hand of bipartisan friendship to the other side. As the first year progressed, the blue dogs sided with the Republicans and created another reason why he couldn't deliver a full measure of change. Now that his luke-warm advocacy of many issues that were important to a dedicated, core part of his base alienated them to the point of not voting, a loss of Congressional seats gives him the excuse to go beyond compromise, all the way to capitulation. Ask yourself these questions: 1-Since the same corporate lobbyists influence BOTH parties. Do I want to have this endless game of pretend finger pointing and faux political stalemates continue and affect future generations? 2- Do I feel that my party is Democratic in name only? 3- Since the Republicans always seem to defend corporate interests, and the Democrats seem to be indifferent. Wouldn't a bonafide, unified, Labor Party better represent my interests as a working person? If your answer to the above questions is "YES", start a dialog at your union local. We have to grow our OWN candidates and political party NOW, so we can break the cycle of disappointment and secure our children's future! SOLIDARITY! The President broke a major campaign promise when he literally surrendered to the Republicans and gave them a two year extension on the Bush tax breaks for the rich. Some people say that President Obama did it out of concern for the unemployed who had their unemployment insurance held hostage by the Republicans. Apparently that concern didn't extend to the many people who have been unemployed for over 99 weeks. I say that any defense at this point is just the bleating of Obama apologists who are starting to look more like members of a cult than a members of a political party. The Unemployment issue should have been resolved earlier in the game.There are ways of throwing negative bargaining chips on the table that would have had the Republicans quaking in their boots. For many of us, President Obama's caving on tax breaks for the rich was the last straw, for me it was when he became a "free" trader like his fellow Democrat Bill Clinton and supported KORUS FTA, The South Korea US Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that was originated by the Bush administration and has the endorsement of the US Chamber of Commerce. Frankly, when November 2012 rolls around, I don't want to be presented with the classic Democratic/Republican lesser of two evils scenario. We don't need a Republican or a someone who makes deals with Republicans in office. If we genuinely fear for the future of our country if it continues along the current path, we have to start planning for REAL change NOW! You can take the first step by taking this poll: When you think of a monopoly, your head may be filled with visions of heavy industry and the robber barons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century or the pre-deregulation (one of the few times that deregulation worked for us) telephone company. Perhaps you are getting visions of Theodore Roosevelt going after those monopolies. One thing almost everyone but the most rabid corporatist can agree on is that monopolies hurt the consumer by stifling competition and eliminating possibilities.
Our two party system has spawned a virtual one party system, otherwise known as a monopoly. Although both parties seem to be elected by "we the people", the Republicans champion the cause of multi-national corporations, "free" traitors uh, I mean "free" traders and union busters. Those entities didn't elect them, but seem to have their undying and unified loyalty. Guess why?? The Democrats profess to being the voice of working people, the middle class and the poor, but are a house divided and constantly offer unrequited "bipartisanship" to the Republicans. I voted for Democratic candidates because as a middle class, pro-union voter, they were the classic lesser of two evils. We have reached the point that their compromise with the Republicans seems to be more like capitulation. Democratic politicians, please listen closely, WHEN YOU COMPROMISE WITH THE REPUBLICANS ON ISSUES THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE HEALTH, LIFE AND SAFETY OF THE VERY VOTERS WHO PUT YOU IN OFFICE, YOU BECOME AN EXTENSION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THEIR AGENDA! To sum it up, our "two" party system consists of one party that has a pro big business, pro big money agenda and a party that has become a dysfunctional crew of Republican enablers and yes men, in other words we have a virtual one party MONOPOLY! Some of you might say that we have many political parties, however those are either regional parties or sadly, parties that haven't made much of an impact on the American scene and for various reasons not of their making, under financing for one, haven't been taken seriously. The quickest cure to America's problems is to have a viable third party that represents "we the people". Although some people say that's the Tea Party, I believe that it is really a corporate spawned feeder party for the Republicans. Don't get me wrong, the system has many built in barriers that can hinder any national party other than the Republicans or Democrats. I'm going to let you Google the phases "third party" or "third political party" so you can see all the gory details for yourself. To give people real options, we need a viable third, fourth and even fifth national party! Let a thousand parties bloom so we can truly be free! Things are out of control. The average person feels disenfranchised. It seems that our elected officials come in two varieties: 1- The party that is blatantly on the side of big business and gave us eight years of George Bush, Herbert Hoover, etc., hides behind a veneer of patriotism and is unified in it's goals which clearly preclude any cooperation with the Democrats.. 2- The party that purports to be on the side of the working person and makes grandiose campaign promises, but always seems to seek the approval of the official party of Hoover and Bush and calls that being bipartisan. Cases in point, Bill Clinton's support of Globalization and our friends the blue dog Democrats, who are closet Republicans. I really need to know how my audience feels about all of the above. Please take this poll: |
 AuthorHave you noticed that there's no one on Talk Radio who speaks for John and Jane Q. Public? I want to change that situation. When I go into the studio and get on the air, I say the things that you've always wanted to say. The big corporate interests have their lobbyists, I want to be your voice. Just think of me as your guy fighting for your interests. 
Proud To Be On:Proud To Carry:Headlines For 8/22/2017
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