The Day After Christmas, 2013

Merry Christmas to all of you true believers and Bah Humbug to all of you godless Atheists.  I have to apologize for being late with my holiday greetings, but it is not abnormal for me.  My fondest wish for all Americans for the coming year is the outlawing of all political parties in our land.  I believe that they have done enough damage, in recent years, with their incessant bickering to see them abolished.  If the bright men and women that represent us, went to Washington D.C., with the purpose in mind of solving the Nation’s problems, rather than battling the opposing party, would not this nation be better served?  If the person you send to Washington acts to represent your wishes, with their reason and wisdom, but not as a “rubber stamp” for a political party, would they not represent you better?

Political parties are the conduit for bribes of large corporate dollars to be legally transferred to our representatives.  I am speaking of both major parties.  They are equally guilty.  At a talk given by U.S. Congressman, Peter DeFazio, he mentioned that he had opposed NAFTA, in spite of the fact that the party he belonged to, the Democratic Party, was in favor of the bill.  During the Q&A, I asked him, what is the carrot and what is the stick that your party uses to influence your vote?  His answer was, the carrot is campaign funds and the stick is committee appointments and the position held on the committee.  The basic power in Congress is in the committees.  So what he said was that his ability to be elected as well as what influence he has in government, after elected, is in the hands of his political party.  The alpha dogs and alpha bitches that you send to legislate are pawns to their party.  They are controlled by the party.  They can't like this. They have the power, through legislation, to put an end to it.

Richard Carmona, M.D., ran for The U.S. Senate, representing the State of Arizona.  He had been the 17^th Surgeon General of our country, under the recent Bush Administration.  He didn’t win the election, but got my independent vote.  He chose to run as a Democrat, even though the Republicans urged him to be their candidate.  Carmona has many Republican friends, in high places, but chose to run as a Democrat because as a scientist, he would have had a hard time siding with the party in stating that man-made carbon emissions had little or nothing to do with climate change.  In a properly functioning government, that would not be a partisan issue.  Your representative would take a well-informed, wise, independent position, on either side of the issue.  “Free The Representatives.”   I asked Dr. Carmona, during Q&A, if he thought that political parties had outlived their usefulness.  He didn’t hesitate to answer, “Yes, I believe they have.”  So, why do we still have them?  Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, corporations can give unlimited funds to a political action committee, without being identified.  Unions can do it too, but their money is “chump change”.  Corporations don’t spend money and expect no return.  They get what they expect and friend, it is not for your benefit.

Cheers, Buz