Posted on 07/04/2002 6:16:32 AM PDT by B. A. Conservative
It is beyond challenge that most, if not all, of the problems America faces today originate in Washington. It is fallacious reasoning to suggest that the problem lies with the people of the United States. Our government is a republic. Our republic is predicated on the theory that those elected to public office have intellectual competence, educational skills or experience that exceeds that of the electorate and that those elected public leaders will do what is right for the country even in opposition to commonly perceived public opinion. During most of the past century, the political class has demonstrably failed to lead, but have instead become political prostitutes selling laws and benefits in exchange for votes transforming our Constitutional republic into a tyrannical mob-rule democracy destined for bankruptcy. Non-producing parasites now use the Democratic Party to prey on their neighbors, the still producing members of our country.
Under our Constitution, the power of the United States resides in We the people. For too long, we have allowed that power to be delegated or sold by the prostitutes in both political parties, primarily those in Washington. Clearly, ours has become a top>down government. As one voice among We the people, I think it is time to withhold the delegation of that power by only delegating it to selected politicians and then only with strings attached. FreeRepublic is a much larger segment of We the people, with a much larger voice. We at FreeRepublic are the roots of the grassroots. Newcomers and some that have been frequenting this site for years may deny that Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives because of the discussions that took place on this web site. They are wrong. Our voice is loud and it is heard in the Halls of Congress and in the Whitehouse. The stain that will be remembered in history is not the stain on Monica's dress; it is the stain of Impeachment. And that stain came from the computer ink that spilled from the hearts of Freepers determined to see justice done. We at FreeRepublic are the roots of the grassroots. The buck starts here.
There has been a great deal of discussion on FreeRepublic lately about what role we should play in this fall's election and that we should cut Bush and the Republicans some slack. Variations of this theme have been discussed on other threads: "THAT which you believe"---"An open letter to Republicans" by redrock. I particularly like the comments by DoughtyOne and "Move the RINOs and we move the party. I really think it's that simple," by NickDanger.
Ronald Reagan won two landslide elections by telling Americans he was going to cut the government in Washington down to size. The Contract with America gave the Republicans control of both houses of Congress for the first time in roughly thirty years. Prior to the Contract with America Republicans only had control of even one house in Congress one other time in 70 years. The lesson that Republicans seem to have difficulty in learning is that the people are conservative and when presented a conservative agenda they will vote for it. And conversely, when pandering is all that is offered, the public prefers the real prostitutes every time. I have a solution to this problem. I call it the
I am not giving my vote to anybody in November. I have decided to auction my vote in this fall's Congressional elections. Politicians are going to have to bid for my vote. I have decided not to exclude any particular politicians or parties from the bidding. And I have decided to attach some rules to the bidding itself:
Minimum Bid:
This is only the Minimum. There are a number of suggested options that politicians could add now or that we will add in future contracts for future elections.
Suggested Options:
Most of these problems would eventually be solved by Term Limits. I think the Term Limits Amendment should be saved as part of the ultimate threat packaged as a part of a package to be presented under Article V to a Constitutional Convention. It takes time to put together sufficient public arousal and support to apply the kind of pressure that we may need to bring to bear on people who are used to exerting power rather than being subjected to it.
We need to, IMHO, instead concentrate on electing the conservatives of all, or no, parties.
But do you really think that all Republican candidates in November are part of the solution and that all Democratic candidates are part of the problem??? I was involved with the local Republican Party here in Louisville, KY for a few years, which was truly a couple more years than I could stomach. It was as if they would consistently be saying "Yeah, but those are OUR bureacratic thugs" when the GOP would blatantly abuse power, or "At least its the Republicans doing it and not the Democrats." It doesn't make a difference: jackbooted thugs are jackbooted thugs, and the party they checked on the little insignficant piece of paper called a voter registration card is irrelevant.
My voting record to this point has been as follows:
If there is a Republican and a Democrat, and no other candidate on the ballot for a given government office, I will always vote for the Republican IF he/she is more Constitutional. (That is what I will be doing this year in casting a vote for U.S. Rep Anne Northup.) If there are more candidates on the ballot for a position than just the two parties (read: one party/two heads), then I STILL vote for whichever is more Constitutional. IMHO, if everyone did this, we would have more conservative Republicans winning primaries, more conservative candidates (period) winning general elections and smaller government overall.
To: exodus
I doubt we disagree much regarding what a conservative is. I just want the Democrats OUT! NOW! The sooner the better. This takes brute force and bludgeoning. No third party can accomplish that. After the death grip has been broken, then we can argue about finesse.
# 113 by Jim Robinson
Let's say that you get what you want. The Republicans win it all. They gain a two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate, and even win the Presidency, by pandering to the liberals. We steal virtually all the Democratic Party's voters.
Now we can work for smaller, less intrusive government! Now we can institute conservative policies! Now we can rid the country of nanny-state do-gooders! Now we can stop the officially sanctioned encroachment of our freedom!
Wrong.
At the first sign that Republicans are going back on their promises to support and extend socialist feel-good policies, the liberals would abandon the Republicans. If that happened, the Republicans would lose their majority.
They would never risk it. Republicans could never alienate their liberal base and still retain power.
In order to draw in liberal voters, Republicans will have to fulfill the desires of socialists. That's the only thing that will bring liberal votes to the party.
If the Republican Party makes a successful power grab by bringing in the liberal vote, the Republicans will become a liberal party.
We must teach the Republicans that to retain our vote, they must consistently support conservative ideas and conservative policies.
The only way to show that we are serious is to vote for third party conservatives.
"If I vote for a Democrat to protest the direction taken by the Republican party, Republicans will point to my liberal vote as the direction they should go to gain my support.
If I vote for a Republican as the lesser of two evils, they'll point to my vote as an expression of confidence in their socialist policies.
If I stay home, and don't vote at all, they'll use statistics to decide why I didn't vote this time, and they'll bend those statistics to mean whatever is convenient for their purposes.
I want a conservative, so I'll vote 3rd party. When I vote for a conservative, even a 3rd party conservative, THERE IS NO QUESTION what it takes to win my vote. I want a conservative, and I won't accept anything less.
Republicans will point to my vote as the direction they need to go in order to gain my support. Democrats themselves will move to the right, as Clinton did in 1992, in an attempt to show me that they believe, just as I do, in freedom."
Yes, I'm being sarcastic.
To: B. A. Conservative
"...Do you see ads for cars during Saturday morning cartoons? No. Kids don't buy cars."
"...a politician doesn't care about people who won't vote. It is awfully hard to tell whether that person sitting home is doing so out of apathy or out of protest.
But if politicians see third parties starting to garner 5-10% of the vote, that will change their behavior.
So I would vote, but vote for a third party."
# 132 by Earn Your Vote
Well said, Earn Your Vote.
I respectfully disagree.
The Republicans and Democrats combined represent less than half the population of those eligible to vote. The only way to make third parties be of any consequence is to vote for them.
Government continues to grow and our rights shrink under Republicrat rule. Who wants to continue on that course?
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