I
Dear Republican or Democrat Politician:
I am writing this letter to inform you that, despite whatever recent support you may have enjoyed from me, I am not satisfied to cast my vote for a candidate of either major party. I have lost all confidence that Republicans or Democrats have any idea what is in my best interest or the interest of our nation. Furthermore, I get the uneasy feeling that both parties are, to put it loosely, making it up as they go along rather than adhering to any set of core tenets informed by the principles of our nation’s founding. I find few, if any, examples of political courage among your rank and file. Instead, I see repeated instances of weak-willed and cowardly pandering on the part of both the Republican and Democrat leadership. This has gone on for far too long and I will no longer tolerate it.
Republicans, you have willingly abandoned your purported agenda of small government by presiding over one of the largest increases in the size of federal government in our nation’s history. You have spent carelessly and wastefully and been infected with the germ of populism. You have not stood up against encroachments to our personal liberties represented by the PATRIOT Act and the endless string of bailouts; indeed, you have sponsored them. You have not held yourselves to the strictest standards of ethics and demanded the same from your opposition, and as a result your party has become a home to political corruption and graft. You have given up the battle to educate Americans about the founding principles of this country and do not teach conservatism. Instead, you shift positions when the wind blows.
Democrats, you have led one of the most naked assaults on free enterprise in our history in the guise of the bailout. You have institutionalized it. You have espoused a philosophy of an activist judiciary that tramples upon the rights of the citizenry and upsets the balance of power among the separate branches of government. You have advocated for increased federal spending above and beyond the Republican increases that will either take the deficit to new heights, force a heavier tax burden on all Americans, or both. Your rhetoric betrays a loathing of free market principles and personal economic freedom that is an affront to our nation’s founding philosophy. You, as much as the Republicans, have become rank with corruption and an aversion to ethics, accepting donations from private parties that present a direct conflict of interest to the discharge of your duties.
Consequently, you will find no support from me until you have rectified your glaring inadequacies and demonstrated in no uncertain terms that you have an interest in satisfying the following requirements:
1. You will tie your party’s platform directly to the founding principles of our nation: individual liberty in both economic and social matters, limited federal authority, strong state’s rights, separation of powers, a balanced budget and limited government spending.
2. You will pursue by constitutional amendment the institution of Congressional term limits that will ensure turnover in government and put an end to political oligarchy in our republic. Until the passage of this amendment, you will strictly practice self-imposed term limits within your party.
3. You will stand against continued government bailouts of private sector interests.
4. You will not shut out third party and independent candidates from participation in presidential and Congressional races and debates.
5. You will pursue reforms aimed at simplifying the federal income tax code.
6. You will, wherever possible, keep the tax burden of ALL Americans as low as possible and focus on reducing spending before you even think about raising taxes.
7. You will ruthlessly self-police for corruption in government and your own party and practice a zero-tolerance policy for unethical behavior.
Until it is clear to me that you are taking these requirements to heart, I will support and vote for a third party or independent candidate of my choice (I will not refrain from voting and allow you to take my silence for complicity in your agenda). If you are unresponsive to this letter or do not signal clear change along these lines, I will assume that you have no intention of representing my interests and the interests of those like me and stand in vocal opposition to both parties.
Respectfully,
Republicans, you have willingly abandoned your purported agenda of small government by presiding over one of the largest increases in the size of federal government in our nation’s history. You have spent carelessly and wastefully and been infected with the germ of populism. You have not stood up against encroachments to our personal liberties represented by the PATRIOT Act and the endless string of bailouts; indeed, you have sponsored them. You have not held yourselves to the strictest standards of ethics and demanded the same from your opposition, and as a result your party has become a home to political corruption and graft. You have given up the battle to educate Americans about the founding principles of this country and do not teach conservatism. Instead, you shift positions when the wind blows.
Democrats, you have led one of the most naked assaults on free enterprise in our history in the guise of the bailout. You have institutionalized it. You have espoused a philosophy of an activist judiciary that tramples upon the rights of the citizenry and upsets the balance of power among the separate branches of government. You have advocated for increased federal spending above and beyond the Republican increases that will either take the deficit to new heights, force a heavier tax burden on all Americans, or both. Your rhetoric betrays a loathing of free market principles and personal economic freedom that is an affront to our nation’s founding philosophy. You, as much as the Republicans, have become rank with corruption and an aversion to ethics, accepting donations from private parties that present a direct conflict of interest to the discharge of your duties.
Consequently, you will find no support from me until you have rectified your glaring inadequacies and demonstrated in no uncertain terms that you have an interest in satisfying the following requirements:
1. You will tie your party’s platform directly to the founding principles of our nation: individual liberty in both economic and social matters, limited federal authority, strong state’s rights, separation of powers, a balanced budget and limited government spending.
2. You will pursue by constitutional amendment the institution of Congressional term limits that will ensure turnover in government and put an end to political oligarchy in our republic. Until the passage of this amendment, you will strictly practice self-imposed term limits within your party.
3. You will stand against continued government bailouts of private sector interests.
4. You will not shut out third party and independent candidates from participation in presidential and Congressional races and debates.
5. You will pursue reforms aimed at simplifying the federal income tax code.
6. You will, wherever possible, keep the tax burden of ALL Americans as low as possible and focus on reducing spending before you even think about raising taxes.
7. You will ruthlessly self-police for corruption in government and your own party and practice a zero-tolerance policy for unethical behavior.
Until it is clear to me that you are taking these requirements to heart, I will support and vote for a third party or independent candidate of my choice (I will not refrain from voting and allow you to take my silence for complicity in your agenda). If you are unresponsive to this letter or do not signal clear change along these lines, I will assume that you have no intention of representing my interests and the interests of those like me and stand in vocal opposition to both parties.
Respectfully,
"Cincinnatus"
Voter
Voter
Posts
4 comments:
Ben,
It seems great minds think alike. I wrote this back in May and touched on many of the same points.
It's Time To Send The Parties Packing
Ben,
I'll second all of your points.
I've long thought that the two main parties have become to massive businesses that collude to push out all others as their greatest fear is that 'business as usual' will be changed, and a third party would do that. No, they both play by the same rules, and have the same end goal of lulling the masses to sleep with the rhetoric of "vote for me because I'm not in THAT party" instead of "Here are my critical issues that you should either vote for, or against me based on".
Bravo. I've been kicking around a draft post along the lines of..."Republicans are not Conservatives" but haven't finalized it....maybe I should get on that ;-) but it seems we are of a like mind on this one
This letter will be dropped in the mail to Mike Duncan, current Chairman of the Republican National Committee, my state representative and senators in Congress, and President-Elect Obama. As I confided to a friend, I'll be amused by the signed photos and generic expressions of thanks for my letter that may or may not be sent in return. At his suggestion, I look forward to scanning and posting them on the blog for all to see.
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