Platform for a New Political Party for the General Prosperity

Even liberal pundits now seem disappointed with President  Obama:

(Maureen Dowd -" Withholder- in chief"rhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/opinion/withholder-in-chief.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), Drew Westen - "What Happened to Obama?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html?scp=1&sq=what%20happened%20to%20Obama&st=Search

Given that the democratic party under the leadership has abandoned its New Deal legacy and collaborated with the republicans and conservatives, to continue the move toward rule by the wealthy, it is time for a third party effort.

Traditionally third parties do not win.  However, the lesson of the Ross Perot candidacy in 1992 can not be ignored. Perot ran on the issue of that era's deficit.  He changed the calculus of the election and shortly after Clinton's election the deficit was addressed, successfully.  It must be noted that as soon as the budget was passed the stock market took off and we headed into a recovery and expansion that resulted in budget surplus.

A platform for a third party.

1. Government on all levels must do all it can to stimulate economic growth.  This means stimulating consumer demand.  It is only demand that stimulates employment.  It does not matter how much cash companies have on hand.  They will not and should not hire workers to do nothing. No matter many service cuts are made and how much taxes might be raised, it is only economic growth that will achieve lowered deficits and national debt.  It is only economic growth that will create full employment. 

2. Stimulating consumer demand requires people have cash to spend.  Ways this can be achieved are:

• continuing unemployment compensation until unemployment falls back to normal levels.
• continuing the benefits of the social safety net
• After demand rises, targeted tax breaks for businesses that invest in expansion both by hiring and equipment and plant.
• completion of critical infrastructure projects
• continue to support education at the highest levels possible

3. Raise taxes back to the levels at the end of the Clinton administration.  This includes not only the wealthy, but the middle class as well.  We are going to need increased revenues to fund the growth initiatives.  It is of no use to isolate the wealthy.

4. End our involvement in wars of choice in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya as soon as possible without adding to chaos.  The era of American use of power continuously around the world must end.

5. Create a new foreign policy to deal with international terrorism without having to invade countries to insure our safety. (More detail on this to come)

6. Create a government mechanism to address the runaway cost of health care. In all the discussion of the last three years there has been little effort to deal with rising costs beyond the idea of cutting benefits.  Almost every attempt to add mechanisms to investigate ways to reduce costs was defeated. The present fee for service method cannot be the most efficient way to fund health care.  The present astronomical and still rising cost of drugs is not justified and unsustainable.

This effort is stimulated by two important issues The first is the terrible economic mess that is not addressed by our present government.  The second is that the entire congress and the president have colluded to defy the 14th amendment of the constitution.  In my opinion they have lost their legitimacy. In our system(since the civil war) we do not turn to violence to make change.  The only option is politics. 

Melvyn Polatchek


 

It is Time to Finally Fight Back.

As a senior citizen I lived my whole life I knowing America was far from perfect.  I knew the flag wavers and uber patriots exaggerated the greatness of America to aid in their agendas of acquisition.  But I also knew that unlike most nations our system was designed with the capacity to improve and develop.  I saw with my own eyes the passage of civil rights laws.  I participated in an anti-war movement that was not crushed by rolling tanks and guns as would have happened in so many other nations. I saw a nation begin to protect its water and its atmosphere and recently even the weather.  And I saw health care for the poor, for the elderly and finally an attempt at providing for everyone. Even before I was born there was social security which provided a financial floor for everyone. 

All these were bitterly opposed by the republicans. From the time of the votes on social security they opposed every one of these advances.  The basic republican/conservative philosophy is to allow no imposed sharing.

Now after the so-called compromise on the debt ceiling crisis, the credit rating of the United States of America, my nation, our nation has been lowered.

The United States was not threatened with a downgrade in our credit rating until the republicans created the debt ceiling crisis and the democrats went along.  Our deficits are a real concern but the ratings agencies were not threatening. Downgrade was not on any one's radar.  It can not the have been the amount of debt that stimulated the downgrade. The unconstitutional willingness to call into question the public debt of the United States has caused real fear that congress could actually decide to default and that U.S. Treasury bonds might not be redeemed.
We have a president who still believe he got a compromise.  He is likely to continue on his outreach to republicans.  Where is the American leader who will demand victory over those who created this crisis and are destroying the America I have know my whole life.

We are all in for a tougher struggle.  The elderly will need to work longer, if they can find employment. Our adult children who are already struggling with employment will push on with the knowledge that they will not have even the social benefits their parents enjoyed.

I have always been a proud American.  I would have always defended our homeland.  Now we have been attacked from within.  The only legacy I can leave my children and grandchildren is to fight back.  There is no compromise with an enemy who is on the attack.  And the republicans and the democratic fellow travelers who have attacked my America are now my enemies.

Melvyn Polatchek

The Final Surrender

Some months ago the president caved in to the republican demands to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.  Today we are told that the republican and democratic leaders of the senate and house along the president have a plan to avoid default.  This plan includes no revenue enhancement whatever.  It does include some trillions of dollars in cuts in government spending.  We have heard so many plans and speculations, we won't know exactly what will happen for some time.  We will hear different interpretations. The democrats will try to make the cuts sound benign. The republicans will try to make it sound like a blow for freedom.  The tea party activists will tell us it is a betrayal of core conservative principles.  They may even still try to block it.  They have not failed yet.  Whatever it is, it is not a compromise.  The democrats have given away everything.  Defense will be cut in time of war.  The social safety net will be cut.  Even if benefits are not cut directly in the first round(no guarantee) the welfare of those who need medicare, medicaid and social security is compromised. Of course all these cuts mean layoffs in the midst of the jobs recession we are still enduring.  They mean further erosion of the tax base and further loss of consumer spending to drive recovery.

This is more than a surrender.  The democrats, under President Obama did not fight for their core constituency.  There is no more damage that could have been done to America than what the two parties have accomplished in the past three terms of the presidency. 

Melvyn Polatchek