Maine Gov. Paul LePage Hopes to Make History in November
Paul LePage might go on to be the only governor in American history who has won election twice with less then 40% of the vote ..
Republican Party
Joe Simon’s Political Comics
In the 1960s, the NY Republican Party hired a comic book artist to get out their message ...
The Absurdities of Malcom Smith Case
After hearing about the Malcolm Smith corruption case, I had think how absurd and delusional can one be about running for office.
1) Malcolm Smith could have become a Republican prior to Election Day in 2012. He could have dropped off his change of registration form on Election Day, and nobody would have ever noticed until the election was over. This way, he could have avoided needing the Wilson-Pakula, as he would be registered in the party that he wanted to run in the primary for their seat.
2) Malcolm Smith wasn’t likely to win the Republican Primary in his battle for City Mayor. The reality is that Joseph J. Lhota and John Catsimatidis were favored to win the Republican primary. Many republican leaders had come out in favor of those two candidates, so the idea that a Democrat running as a Republican could snap up the primary vote, just seemed absurd.
3) Even if Malcolm Smith went on to win the Republican primary, he would be running against the very popular Democrat, Christine Quinn, the Speaker of New York City Council. Malcolm Smith would have been a weak candidate, at best, running in a city that is overwhelmingly a Democratic city.
Basically, I can’t think of a way that Malcolm Smith could have reasonably expected to win the mayorality of NY City.
Likes and Dislikes
Tea Party Likes.
- Not afraid to question, criticize the establishment; their independent
- Anti-tax sentiment, especially when it comes to fees and hurting the average Middle Class American
- Anti-regulatory sentiment, and highlighting some of the abuses of our bureaucrats and their power grab
- Pushing for change and reform, a new breed of politician
Tea Party Dislikes.
- Too closely tied to Republican Party and Republican Candidates
- Too caught up in conservative rhetoric
- Takes libertarianism to it’s logical extreme — it takes questions of personal liberty to the extreme of corporate domination
- Too anti-union, anti-fair labor practices
- Unwilling to see when government can do the right thing
Indeed, if the Tea Party Movement could get away from all it’s conservative and libertarian extremist rhetoric, it would be something I could support.
If the Tea Party Movement could get behind moderate Democrats — those who progressive economically, but also libertarian or even somewhat conservative when it comes to social issues, it would be something I could support.
I don’t want to see our country ruined by a lack of a good government, nor do I want to see our country become a totalitarian state run by liberal activists.
Agreeing with Tea Party Sentiment; But Not Really Their Politics
I agree almost 100% with the message of the Tea Party protesters. Too often our elected officials are not serving the public interest, but only their own narrow special interests. Politicians are unwilling to confront both wealthy donors, much less any sector of their demographic that they represent. Too many politicians have spent too much time in office, and have grown too distant from the people they are supposed to represent.
It’s not just a problem with the Democratic Party. Indeed, it’s a problem with both political parties. Many Republicans are too friendly to big business based on their ideological predisposition. Republicans often exploit government for the special interests that they are involved in. Republicans are too willing to oppose taxes on behalf of the rich, while either depriving the public of much needed services or leading to higher user fees on the rest of non-rich populous.
Both political parties need to have a tea party revolt that kicks out the bums their respective parties. There needs to be fresh blood, corrupt and evil practices should not be tolerated. Legislators need to have term-limits and primaries that force the old out and the new in. Legislative sessions need to be shortened, and legislative bodies made unprofessional, so that new elected officials have a connection with the people they represent are elected into office.
The Tea Party folk are right. It’s time for a new politics, a new generation of thinking and caring politicians. The old must come and go, the new blood must come in. The beloved old politician of yesteryear is the problem of today, holding us back into a politics of yesteryear. We as a society must move forward and not backwards. And for that, my hat’s off to all reformers of politics be it the Democracy for America and MoveOn folks of the left or the Tea Party folk on the right.