A Real Third Party Solution

This article is in response to Tony Sarrechia's article Suggestions for a New Political Party, in which the author lays out a ten-point plan for a new party to challenge the Democrats and Republicans for political supremacy. Unfortunately, Mr. Sarrechia's list seems to be almost entirely taken from the Libertarian Party list of principles mixed in with a few twists, like the addition of the Wiccan Reed as a guiding political principle. Mr. Sarrechia states that the Libertarians have legalization of drugs at the top of their agenda, which is a gross misrepresentation of their principles. Everyone I have ever met or read about who was a libertarian was more concerned with fiscal responsibility, privacy rights, and small government than with the legalization of marijuana.

As well, Mr. Sarrecchia goes through a persona anecdote about his political journey from his days as a Democrat to his time as a Republican. While his story is interesting and cleverly rendered, it offers simplistic views of both parties. There are conservatives, moderates, and liberals in both parties and Mr. Sarrecchia's article seems to focus on popularly conceived generalities about Democrats (big government spenders) and Republicans (conservative demagogues). If we are to develop a third party, we need to see the forest for the trees.

First, it is important to refute or support Mr. Sarrecchia based on the merits of his ten point plan for a third party, which seems to be a pseudo-libertarian political movement:

1) Mr. Sarrecchia states that the freedoms inherent within our Constitution's First Amendment are the bedrock of our nation. I completely agree with this point and it is no wonder that it is the first amendment in your nation's laws.

2) The argument at number two is the standard conservative defense that we need guns to protect ourselves from street crime. However, this argument is incomplete because it does not go further in talking about where these guns come from. They aren't coming from a magical gun factory are they? Where do thugs get Glocks? How about seventeen year old high school students? Or armed revolutionaries in Latin American countries we supported in the 1970s and 1980s? Gun control is key to public safety and, frankly, until gun crime is down to the point of European countries, I don't sympathize with hunters and others who claim their inalienable right to arms.

3) Mr. Sarrecchia argues for a flat tax to support our government. While it is an intriguing concept brought up by conservatives, it simply won't work. The solution to our tax woes is to eliminate tax loopholes for corporations and the upper 10% of earners, decrease overall rates at every level, and enforce tax laws in order to balance tax receipts. Without loopholes, rich people will pay their truly fair share, which they will make back in public services (you know, police forces, fire fighters, and hospitals).

4) The aforementioned article supports using the Wiccan Reed as a guiding principle as opposed to the Ten Commandments. This new political party would be truly unique if it left spirituality and religion in the homes and communities of America and out of party platforms. We need the public's interest to be the main impetus of government, not supporting spiritual needs.

5) Mr. Sarrecchia has a strong basic point that actions should only be illegal if they are fraudulent or violent. However, the democratic process dictates that local boards, as well as state and national representatives, should determine what is legal and illegal. Party platforms should remain flexible as to what is included in legislation and local statutes.

6) On this point, I entirely agree with the author. The government should stay out of our bedrooms and our checkbooks.

7) The only thing I would have to say on this point, dealing with abortion and privacy, is that the right to choose in women goes along with the first point in this article. Once we start invading privacy and determining what people do with their bodies, our nation is in trouble. As well, I should not be able to determine what a woman does because we are working on different biological levels.

8) Mr. Sarrecchia makes a strong defense of stem cell research that I completely agree with. We should be funding stem cell research on a national level and making a concerted global effort to mobilize labs to solve some of medicine's great problems.

9) Mr. Sarrecchia feels that legal restraints like helmets, seat belts, and red lights invade upon personal liberties and should be optional. I assume that this is tongue in cheek, or I hope so, because all three are necessary parts of ensuring public safety. Public safety issues occur when a person leaves their private property and comes in contact with the public at large. This means that someone who breezes through a red light or a yield sign can hurt or kill another member of the public. Helmets and seat belts have been proven to help save lives, prevent injury during accidents, and cut down on public health costs due to less extensive work done in emergency rooms.

10) Mr. Sarrecchia says that capitalism is alive and well while socialism is an evil that is long dead. While I admire Mr. Sarrecchia's pluck, I think that putting "Capitalism Rocks" or "Socialism is Dead" in a party platform would be a bit unbecoming.

The author's ten point plan for a third party lacks some of the major issues confronting us today. Where is a discussion of campaign finance reform? International affairs? Poverty? I offer a few examples of what a real third party should have in its platform to provide an alternative to the two main parties.

1) All campaigns should be financed by public funds and Election Day should be either a holiday during the week or held over a weekend. While people need to make an effort to get to the polls on Election Day, the government needs to make it easier to get to the polls. As well, the government needs to take back the airwaves, use some of its substantial funding and give equal time to all candidates on the ballot on television and radio. Public radio does this already, but most people don't listen to NPR or local public radio.

2) The United States needs to lead the charge for cleaning up the United Nations and reinvigorating an international institution that is capable of so much good throughout the world. We need to gather around the few allies we have left and push for a complete audit of United Nations activities over the last twenty years. If member states do not cooperate, the United States and allies would threaten to pull resources and support out of the organization and provide funding to impoverished nations outside of the United Nations structure.

3) The military needs to be made swifter and more mobile. Fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, we are still thinking and acting in a Cold War fashion with massive military projects and high expenditures. Small, tactical forces with the best technology, along with efforts to cooperate with the armed forces of other nations, will allow use to go after terror cells in places like Africa and Asia. The money we save on trimming the military infrastructure can go to health care, education, and elections.

4) We need to have universal health care for all children under 18 and senior citizens over the age of 65. People are already spending huge amounts of money into private organizations for a poor quality product. If the government can utilize its collective spending and organizational power to get a variety of public health options for its citizens, then it has done its job.

5) The poverty issue needs to be addressed in a more substantial manner. We need a mixture of public and private efforts, including community organizations, religious groups, and political organizations. The government should fund temporary health care for all citizens under a certain income level contingent on them finding a job and gaining their own health care within 18 months of enrollment. The funding for this would come from a dedicated levy on capital gains. As well, the government needs to help ensure that students in the inner city and poor rural areas receive the same education as their affluent peers. In order to accomplish this, any college student who guarantees to work five years in a rural or poor urban district will receive up to five years of tuition remission. We can afford all of these programs by closing loopholes and enforcing tax laws so that all of our tax receipts are in order.

While some of these ideas have been included in Republican or Democratic campaigns, only a third party with the backing of real citizens who are fed up with the process can get this done. Mr. Sarrecchia's article was interesting and often amusing but it didn't provide a real starting point for debate, as there is already a party that meets most of his needs.