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Romney Foreign Policy Advisors

Submitted by Roanman on Tue, 08/28/2012 - 08:37

 

Much ..... Ok, Ok ..... some, is being made of the preponderance of US/Israeli dual citizens appointed to the Mitt Romney campaign's foreign policy team.

From the Washington Post and Fighting For Liberty.

We put the two lists together so you wouldn't have to.

A significantly more complete list of resume' items for each of these good people along with supporting links can be found at Active Post.

We way double recommend that you go there and read it all.

DO IT!!! THIS IS AMERICA, YOU'LL DO AS YOU'RE TOLD.

Just kidding ........... sort of.

 

Cofer Black, Vice President of Blackbird Technologies; Director of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center (1999-2002); United States Department of State Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism (2002-2004)

Christopher Burnham, Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management (2005-2006); United States Under Secretary of State for Management (2001-2005)

Michael Chertoff, Chairman of the Chertoff Group; United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009); Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003-2005) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Eliot Cohen, Director of the Strategic Studies Program at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Counselor to the United States Department of State (2007-2009); Defense Policy Advisory Board Member (2001-2009) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Board, American Action Network; Adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition; United States Senator (R-MN) (2003-2009) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

John Danilovich, Member of the Trilantic European Advisory Council; CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation (2005-2009); Ambassador to Brazil (2004-2005); Ambassador to Costa Rica (2001-2004)

Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)

Eric Edelman, Visiting Scholar at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005-2009); Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Michael Hayden, Principal of the Chertoff Group; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009); Director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005)

Kerry Healey, President, Friends of the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan; Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007); Trustee, American University of Afghanistan

Kim Holmes, Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation; Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (2001-2005)

Robert Joseph, Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy; Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (2005-2007)

Robert Kagan, Syndicated Columnist; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Center on United States and Europe; Board Member of the Foreign Policy Initiative (Israeli Dual Citizen)

John Lehman, Chairman and Founding Partner, J. F. Lehman & Co.; National Security Advisory Counsel for the Center for Security Policy; Secretary of the Navy (1981-1987); Member of the 9/11 Commission (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Walid Phares, Professor of Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington; Member of the Advisory Board of the Task Force on Future Terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security (2006-2007)

Pierre Prosper, Partner at Arent Fox; United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (2001-2005); Special Counsel and Policy Adviser to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1999-2001)

Mitchell Reiss, President of Washington College; Director of Policy Planning at State Department (2001-2005); Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (2005-2007)

Daniel Senor, Partner at Rosemont Capital; Coalition Provisional Authority Spokesman and Senior Advisor (2003-2004); Director and Co-Founder, Foreign Policy Initiative

Jim Talent, Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation; United States Senator (R-MO) (2002-2007)

Vin Weber, Managing Partner, Clark & Weinstock; Member of the United States House of Representatives (R-Minn.) (1981-1993)

Richard Williamson, Partner at Winston & Strawn; United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2004); Special Envoy to Sudan (2008-2009); Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (1988-1989)

Dov Zakheim, Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (2001-2004); Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Planning and Resources (1985-1987) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

 

Romney’s 13 working groups and their leaders, as announced by the Romney campaign:

 

Afghanistan & Pakistan Working Group

James Shinn, Co-Chair, Lecturer at Princeton University; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (2007-2008)

Ashley Tellis, Co-Chair, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Senior Adviser to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs (2003)

Africa Working Group

Tibor Nagy, Chair, Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University; Ambassador to Ethiopia (1999-2002); Ambassador to Guinea (1996-1999)

 

Asia-Pacific Working Group

Evan Feigenbaum, Co-Chair, Executive Director of the Paulson Institute; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia (2006-2009); Member for East Asia, Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff (2001-2006) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Aaron Friedberg, Co-Chair, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University; Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Vice President (2003-2005) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Kent Lucken, Co-Chair, Director at Citigroup Private Bank in Boston; Former Foreign Service Officer; Board Member for the US-Asia Institute (Israeli Dual Citizen)

 

Counter-Proliferation Working Group

Eric Edelman, Co-Chair, Visiting Scholar at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005-2009); Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Robert Joseph, Co-Chair, Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy; Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (2005-2007)

Stephen Rademaker, Co-Chair, Principal at Podesta Group; Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation (2002-2006); Policy Director for National Security Affairs and Senior Counsel to Sen. Bill Frist (2006-2007)

 

Counterterrorism & Intelligence Working Group

Michael Chertoff, Co-Chair, Chairman of the Chertoff Group; Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009); Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003-2005) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Michael Hayden, Co-Chair, Principal of the Chertoff Group; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009); Director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005)

 

Defense Working Group

John Lehman, Co-Chair, Chairman and Founding Partner, J.F. Lehman & Co.; National Security Advisory Council for the Center for Security Policy; Secretary of the Navy (1981-1987); Member of the 9/11 Commission (Israeli Dual Citizen)

Roger Zakheim, Co-Chair, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (2008-2009) (Son of Dov ..... above)

 

Europe Working Group

Nile Gardiner, Co-Chair, Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom; Foreign Policy Researcher for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (2000-2002)

Kristen Silverberg, Co-Chair, Chief Operating Officer at Vorbeck Materials; Ambassador to the European Union (2008-2009); Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (2005-2008) (Israeli Dual Citizen)

 

Human Rights Working Group

Pierre Prosper, Chair, Partner at Arent Fox; United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (2001-2005); Special Counsel and Policy Adviser to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1999-2001)

 

International Assistance Working Group

Grant Aldonas, Co-Chair, Senior Adviser at Center for Strategic and International Studies; Under Secretary for International Trade at the Commerce Department (2001-2005); Member of the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (2001-2005)

Daniel Runde, Co-Chair, Director of Prosperity and Development at Center for Strategic and International Studies; Former Director of the Office of Global Development Alliances at USAID (2005-2007); Head of Philanthropy Relations at the International Finance Corporation (2007-2010)

 

International Organizations Working Group

Christopher Burnham, Co-Chair, Vice Chairman Deutsche Bank Asset Management; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management (2005-2006); United States Under Secretary of State for Management (2001-2005)

Paula Dobriansky, Co-Chair, Senior Fellow at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government; Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)

Robert O’Brien, Co-Chair, Partner at Arent Fox; US Alternate Representative to the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly (2005-2006); Former legal officer with the United Nations Security Council (Compensation Commission) (2006-2008)

 

Latin America Working Group

Clifford Sobel, Co-Chair, Ambassador to Brazil (2006-2009); Ambassador to the Netherlands (2001-2005); Member United States Holocaust Memorial Council (1994-1998)

Ray Walser, Co-Chair, Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation; Director of the Foreign Service Institute’s Western Hemisphere Area Studies program (2005-2007); 27-year Foreign Service Officer

 

Middle East & North Africa Working Group

Mary Beth Long, Co-Chair, Senior Vice President at Neural IQ Government Services; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2007-2009)

Meghan O’Sullivan, Co-Chair, Lecturer at Kennedy School of Government; Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan (2004-2007)

Walid Phares, Co-Chair, Professor of Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington; Member of the Advisory Board of the Task Force on Future Terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security (2006-2007)

 

Russia Working Group

Leon Aron, Co-Chair, Resident Scholar and Director of Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Author of Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life and other noted works; Contributed to The New Russian Foreign Policy

William Martel, Co-Chair, Associate Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts University

 
I duuno.  It seems statistically significant, especially in light of Mr. Romney's proposed foreign policy ideas.
 
 
 

A. Barton Hinkle nails it

Submitted by Roanman on Fri, 08/24/2012 - 21:00

 

From Reason.com

 

The Wrong Side Absolutely Must Not Win

The past several weeks have made one thing crystal-clear: Our country faces unmitigated disaster if the Other Side wins.

 | August 20, 2012

 

The past several weeks have made one thing crystal-clear: Our country faces unmitigated disaster if the Other Side wins.

No reasonably intelligent person can deny this. All you have to do is look at the way the Other Side has been running its campaign. Instead of focusing on the big issues that are important to the American People, it has fired a relentlessly negative barrage of distortions, misrepresentations, and flat-out lies.

Just look at the Other Side’s latest commercial, which take a perfectly reasonable statement by the candidate for My Side completely out of context to make it seem as if he is saying something nefarious. This just shows you how desperate the Other Side is and how willing it is to mislead the American People.

The Other Side also has been hammering away at My Side to release certain documents that have nothing to do with anything, and making all sorts of outrageous accusations about what might be in them. Meanwhile, the Other Side has stonewalled perfectly reasonable requests to release its own documents that would expose some very embarrassing details if anybody ever found out what was in them. This just shows you what a bunch of hypocrites they are.

Naturally, the media won’t report any of this. Major newspapers and cable networks jump all over anything they think will make My Side look bad. Yet they completely ignore critically important and incredibly relevant information that would be devastating to the Other Side if it could ever be verified.

I will admit the candidates for My Side do make occasional blunders. These usually happen at the end of exhausting 19-hour days and are perfectly understandable. Our leaders are only human, after all. Nevertheless, the Other Side inevitably makes a big fat deal out of these trivial gaffes, while completely ignoring its own candidates’ incredibly thoughtless and stupid remarks – remarks that reveal the Other Side’s true nature, which is genuinely frightening.

My Side has produced a visionary program that will get the economy moving, put the American People back to work, strengthen national security, return fiscal integrity to Washington, and restore our standing in the international community. What does the Other Side have to offer? Nothing but the same old disproven, discredited policies that got us into our current mess in the first place.

Don’t take my word for it, though. I recently read about an analysis by an independent, nonpartisan organization that supports My Side. It proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that everything I have been saying about the Other Side was true all along. Of course, the Other Side refuses to acknowledge any of this. It is too busy cranking out so-called studies by so-called experts who are actually  nothing but partisan hacks. This just shows you that the Other Side lives in its own little echo chamber and refuses to listen to anyone who has not already drunk its Kool-Aid.

Let’s face it: The Other Side is held hostage by a radical, failed ideology. I have been doing some research on the Internet, and I have learned this ideology was developed by a very obscure but nonetheless profoundly influential writer with a strange-sounding name who enjoyed brief celebrity several decades ago. If you look carefully, you can trace nearly all the Other Side’s policies for the past half-century back to the writings of this one person.

To be sure, the Other Side also has been influenced by its powerful supporters. These include a reclusive billionaire who has funded a number of organizations far outside the political mainstream; several politicians who have said outrageous things over the years; and an alarmingly large number of completely clueless ordinary Americans who are being used as tools and don’t even know it.

These people are really pathetic, too. The other day I saw a YouTube video in which My Side sent an investigator and a cameraman to a rally being held by the Other Side, where the investigator proceeded to ask some real zingers. It was hilarious! First off, the people at the rally wore T-shirts with all kinds of lame messages that they actually thought were really clever. Plus, many of the people who were interviewed were overweight, sweaty, flushed, and generally not very attractive. But what was really funny was how stupid they were. There is no way anyone could watch that video and not come away convinced the people on My Side are smarter, and that My Side is therefore right about everything.

Besides, it’s clear that the people on the Other Side are driven by mindless anger – unlike My Side, which is filled with passionate idealism and righteous indignation. That indignation, I hasten to add, is entirely justified. I have read several articles in publications that support My Side that expose what a truly dangerous group the Other Side is, and how thoroughly committed it is to imposing its radical, failed agenda on the rest of us.

That is why I believe 2012 is, without a doubt, the defining election of our lifetime. The difference between My Side and the Other Side could not be greater. That is why it absolutely must win on November 6.

 

Twelve alternatives to the Republicrats

Submitted by Roanman on Tue, 05/08/2012 - 11:53

 

To begin with, the idea for this post right down to the logos came from a post at White Out Press.com titled  Voters Guide to Political Parties in America.

While their post is very much like this one, it is different in that they provide their summary of what they think each party is about, whereas we take excerpts from each party's home page or platform in an effort to allow each party to explain itself.  

While fooling around over at White Out Press, you might participate in their poll regarding which of these parties most closely reflect your values/political philosophy/whatever.

We can't decide ..... yet.

It's at the bottom of this page right here.

We encourage you to click each of the following logos to see for yourself what each party is all about as we edited in the sense that we selected content that in our opinion revealed each party's core values/approach.

We might have selected out of order of their priorities.

 

 

The America First Party pledges its total allegiance to the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America. The America First Party believes that interpreting the Constitution must be based on the Framers' precise words and the meaning intended at that time. The America First Party totally rejects the concept that the Constitution is a "living document," in which the meaning can be interpreted and altered as society changes. This concept is not only seductive, but totally against the intentions of its Framers. If the citizens of this nation wish to revise or change a portion of the Constitution there is a provision provided by the Framers called the Constitutional Amendment. It is very interesting that the citizens of this nation have found it necessary to amend the Constitution only twenty-seven times since adoption of the Constitution in 1788.

Any alliance, treaty or agreement that commits this nation to participate in foreign conflicts subverts our Constitution and the independence of this nation, and is therefore illegal. The Constitution of the United States delegates the authority and responsibility for the common defense and the general welfare of the United States to the Congress - not the President. Only Congress-not the President, the UN, NATO or any other organization-can commit United States armed forces into any armed conflict or war with a declaration of war. All security alliances must be reviewed by the U.S. Congress to determine if they still serve the best interests of this nation and its people. The Constitution does not empower the Federal Government to police the world or protect other nations. The Constitution does not allow our nation's armed forces ever to be under foreign command, which has become common practice under present UN and NATO deployment. The Constitution requires that the President of the United States shall be the Commander in Chief of our nation's armed forces. It does not provide any means for the President to delegate this authority to any domestic or foreign person or organization, as has happened with NATO and the UN forces of late. Both the UN and the NATO treaty claim authority to direct our nation's armed forces into a war [armed conflict] without the Constitutional requirement of Congress declaring war. Since NATO no longer serves a defensive purpose for the United States, it is therefore time that we withdraw from NATO and permit Europe the task of defending itself.

The United States must withdraw from the United Nations immediately and require the UN headquarters to relocate out of the United States. Our participation as a member nation in this organization was never constitutional and now places our nation's sovereignty in extreme peril. The United States must promptly withdraw from all international monetary and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, WTO, NAFTA, GATT, etc. These institutions violate the meaning and intent of our Constitution.

 

 

The American Independent Party is the party of ordered liberty in a nation under God. We believe in strict adherence to written law. We believe the Constitution is the contract America has with itself. Its willful distortion has led to the violation of our Tenth Amendment guaranteed right to limited government—which inevitably requires oppressive taxation. Its faithful application will lift that awful burden.

We believe in protecting all human life however weak, defenseless, or disheartened; we endorse the family as the essential bulwark of liberty, compassion, responsibility, and industry; and declare the family's right and responsibility to nurture, discipline, and educate its children. We maintain that all humans are persons from the beginning of their biological development and especially deserve our love and nurture when they are weakest and most dependent.

We insist that marriage is between a man and a woman and assert the role of the law in establishing and reinforcing the mutual rights and obligations of that God-ordained contract.

We assert the absolute, concurrent Second Amendment guaranteed individual right to self defense against impositions by other citizens or our government, coupled with a strong common defense, a common defense which requires a national sovereignty not damaged by imprudent or un-Constitutional treaties.

We oppose all illegal immigration. We support secure borders and immigration policies, inviting the best of the world to join us in freedom. We emphatically demand that our borders be protected against intrusions by that most straight-forward and practical means, a fence, reinforced by all the necessary manpower and electronic surveillance. We also insist that those who violate our immigration laws—be they illegal immigrants or their employers—be punished for their crime in a way that will deter them from future offenses.

The Republic established by our Constitution is the greatest of all pro-life institutions. In the first place, it protects our lives from the impositions of foreign nations and internal disorder. Our Constitution in its Fifth Amendment also forbids the government to take life—or liberty or property—unjustly. The Fourteenth amendment requires all States to apply all the protections they provide for life equally to all visitors or citizens, and to all born or unborn persons within the territories governed by their laws.

We believe that all those who govern are the servants of God for the good of citizens. Therefore all governments are under God whether they like it or not! This is why we call those who rule in our nation, Public Servants. We will resist by all political means at our disposal the increasing inclination of our Public employees and representatives to become, ever more, Public Masters.

 

 

Americans Elect is the first nonpartisan nomination. We're using the Internet to break the gridlock in Washington, open up the political process and give every single voter—Democrat, Republican or independent—the power to nominate a presidential ticket in 2012. Your voice matters. You decide the issues. You choose the candidates. And in a secure, online convention next June, you will make history by putting the Americans Elect ticket on the ballot in every state.

With Americans Elect, you have the power to choose leadership that puts country before party, and America's interests before special interests. You have the power to change politics as usual. 

Americans Elect is a "2nd way" to nominate a President, not a traditional 3rd party. Our process is open to any qualified candidate and any registered voter—no matter their party. We have no ties to any political group—left, right, or center. We don't promote any issues, ideology or candidates. None of our funding comes from special interests or lobbyists. Our only goal is to put a directly-nominated ticket on the ballot in 2012.

We're building a 21st-century nominating system with state-of-the-art security at every step. Every voter's registration status will be verified. Every vote will be counted fairly and accurately, and will generate a printable confirmation. And an independent, publicly-identified panel of election experts will monitor the process and report publicly on its transparency and security.

 Americans Elect is not another advocacy group or online competition. We are well on the way to securing national ballot access. We are building a state-of-the-art, secure voting process. We will attract millions of registered voters. We will attract serious, qualified presidential candidates. And in 2012, American voters will change politics as usual and put their ticket on the ballot in every state.

 

 

The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.

Program of the Boston Tea Party Adopted in Convention, May 2, 2012

1. Monetary policy reform: Repeal legal tender law, allow for free competition of currency, and prohibit federal and state taxes on precious metal coins and bullion.

2. Real budgetary reform: Abolish all subsidies/entitlements, drastically cut military spending, cut salary of all federal employees (including elected and appointed officials) and liquidate all government assets other than necessary office buildings.

3. Pass the Downsize DC agenda of Congressional reforms: Read the Bills Act, One Subject at a Time Act, Write the Laws Act, and Enumerated Powers Act.

4. End the Wars Abroad: immediately cease all foreign intervention and bring home troops stationed abroad.

5. End the Wars at home: war on drugs, war on poverty, war on civil liberties.

 

 

The Constitution Party affirms the principles of inherent individual rights upon which these United States of America were founded:

That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness;

That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual's unalienable rights;

That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;

That history makes clear that left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people's rights; and

That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed.

 

 

 Never has our country faced as many challenges and crises as we do now.  Levels of federal revenue are the lowest they have been since 1950 because of tax cuts and breaks for the very rich and for corporations. Government agencies charged with safeguarding public health and safety are operating with slashed budgets that paralyze their efforts. Jobs are being permanently relocated outside the country, while social and educational programs are being gutted. Our food, water, air, and soil are increasingly found to bear toxins and debilitating pollution.

Every single level of government - local, county, state, and federal - is operating in the red, running up crushing amounts of debt. Many of our allies and former friends around the world are disgusted with our imperialist foreign policy, militarism, and arrogant corporate behavior. Realizing that our actions will be judged by future generations, we ask how we can draw on the best of our traditions, calling forth a spirit of ingenuity and citizen participation to achieve a free, democratic, just, and responsible society, one that actively responds to the crucial ecological challenges of our time, rather than denying them.

We propose a vision of our common good that is advanced through an independent politics free from the control of corporations and big money, and through a democratic structure and process that empowers and reaches across lines of division to bring together our combined strengths as a people.

We, the Green Party, see our political and economic progress, and our individual lives, within the context of an evolving, dynamic world.

As in nature, where adaptation and diversity provide key strategies through which life flourishes, a successful political strategy is one that is diverse, adaptable to changing needs, and strong and resilient in its core values:

Participatory Democracy, rooted in community practice at the grassroots level and informing every level, from the local to the international.

Social Justice and Equal Opportunity emphasizing personal and social responsibility, accountability, and an informing ethic of Nonviolence.

Ecological and Economic Sustainability, balancing the interests of a regulated market economy and community-based economics with effective care for the Great Economy in which we are embedded: the ecosystems of the Earth

 

 

The Independence Party of America will offer a ‘third way’ to professionally manage the federal government.  As America’s largest third party organization of political independents — with more than 350,000 members in our home state alone and growing daily — we intend to bring INDEPENDENCE to the national forefront.  We intend to change the DEBATE in Washington and offer a viable alternative to the two-party duopoly.  And we hope to recruit America’s increasingly apathetic electorate with a plan and a mission to offer a REAL alternative to the major party candidates.

Millions of people across the nation have voiced their distrust of Washington’s extreme partisanship — and the growing incompetence that characterizes the federal bureaucracy.

Our great democratic system of governance has been corrupted by significant waste, fraud and mismanagement.  While the largest corporations in the nation reap billions in profits from an unprecedented surge in federal spending, average Americans struggle to pay for their basic medical expenses, housing and energy needs.

All government spending is a tax on each and every one of us, and WE, THE PEOPLE must demand appropriate accountability. We deserve a better quality lifestyle relative to our contributed tax dollars.  We deserve a better reputation on the world’s stage relative to the average American’s honest goodwill towards all people, and the sacrifices that many generations have endured to improve the lives of others around the globe.  We deserve competent, intelligent and forward-thinking leadership to lead the nation to new heights of prosperity.

As independents, we believe that America’s choice for an independent President will emerge from the grassroots with a platform to bring competent and revolutionary management principles to transforming the federal government.  The Independence Party of America will be the great big tent for all voters – left, right and center — to feel confident that we are on our way to changing course for the better.

 

 

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely,

(1) the right to life -- accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others;

(2) the right to liberty of speech and action -- accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; 

(3) the right to property -- accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

 

 

The PFP from the very beginning has been a strong advocate for the protection of the environment from pollution and nuclear waste.

We honor all treaties with Native Americans.

We support the right of all people to self determination.

We recognize each person's right to determine her or his own sexual preferences.

We respect the right of all individuals to control their own bodies, including free abortion on demand.

We call for free access to a full education for every person at any point in life.

We fight for each person's right to be well clothed, well housed, and well fed.

We want free high equality health care as a right, not a privilege.

The PFP envisions a full employment economy based on peacetime production to provide for the needs of all people.

Since 1974 the Peace and Freedom Party platform has been feminist and socialist. We want a socialist economy, one where industries, financial institutions, and natural resources are owned by the people as a whole and democratically managed by the people who work in them and use them.

This would be a big change from the present corporate capitalist economy. The richest 1% of the population has half of all privately-owned stock in U.S. corporations and controls most of the institutional stock. They control the policies of business, government, and the media. The capitalist economy starts out with competition for personal profit and ends up with huge monopolies which waste resources. They don't care if they endanger the planet by making useless or even harmful products, so long as they make money. Under capitalism, millions of people are jobless, homeless, often hungry, and without proper medical care. Even those with decent jobs live with the fear of war, nuclear destruction, and environmental pollution of our food, air and water. 

 

 

REFORM PARTY CORE PRINCIPLES  (Amended by the 2008 National Convention, Dallas, TX)

● Give Congress and the White House the same retirement plans and health care as the average citizen.

● Eliminate the practice of keeping some programs off-budget.

● Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.

● Give the President the Line Item Veto.

● Prohibit fundraising by incumbents while exercising their offices.

● Require voter ID at the polls.

● Eliminate private contributions including 527s and PACs and replace with public funding of campaigns.

● It must be fair to individuals as well as corporations.

● It must raise the money to pay the bills.

● Require that any future tax increases under this new system be approved by the people in the next federal election, in order to impose discipline on spending.

● Negotiate trade agreements that promote American jobs, consumer safety, environmental protection, and fair trade.  Rescind and get us out of NAFTA, GATT, CAFTA and the WTO now.  Tear up these trade agreements for new, fair agreements.

● Create a business environment that supports small business, which accounts for roughly 80 percent of jobs held by Americans today. Trade agreements, tax reform, health care reform, and other programs must reflect the needs of small business.

● Invoke the direct tax protections for homesteads owned by individual citizens.

● Close the borders and stop illegal immigration now.

 

 

 The program of the Socialist Equality Party starts not with what capitalism can “afford,” but with what the working class requires. Our program is not tailored to what small-minded opportunists and pragmatists may consider immediately “achievable.” What can or cannot be achieved, in any given situation, is determined in struggle. Those not prepared to fight will never win anything.

The SEP insists that everyone has basic social rights, necessary for life in a complex modern society.  These rights include:

The right to a job: The right to employment is the most basic of all. Without a steady, good-paying job, it is impossible to satisfy all other needs.

The right to a livable income: Wages are under relentless attack, and the current federal minimum wage condemns millions to poverty. It must be replaced by a guaranteed annual income that covers all needs.

The right to leisure: To improve conditions of life and provide jobs for the unemployed, the workweek must be shortened. Workers should earn a full-time income based on a 30-hour workweek.

The right to decent and affordable housing: The SEP demands an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions. All mortgages should be restructured to affordable levels, indexed to income and employment status.

The right to utilities and transportation: There must be an immediate end to all utilities shutoffs, which affect hundreds of thousands of American families every year, and access to affordable quality transportation must be guaranteed to all.

The right to high quality health care: The solution to the health care crisis lies in putting an end to the privately owned health care corporations and removing profit from the health care system.

The right to a secure retirement: All workers must be guaranteed pensions that allow for a secure retirement, with an income that covers all necessities of life.

The right to an education: With the growing complexity of society and work comes the need for all workers to have a quality education. Yet the state of education is abysmal and getting worse.

The right to a healthy and safe environment: Addressing environmental degradation is impossible in a society in which every decision is dictated by the pursuit of profit.

The right to culture: Access to art and culture is a basic component of a healthy society. Yet, like everything else, it is under relentless attack.

We call for the immediate withdrawal of all US troops from wherever they are stationed abroad, and an end to the drive by the ruling class to restructure the world in its interests. We call for the defense of democratic rights, and the abolition of the police-state infrastructure built up under both Bush and Obama.

   

 

THE SOCIALIST PARTY strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own  control - a non-racist, classless, feminist socialist society... where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically controlled public agencies; where full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work; where workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions; and where the production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. We believe socialism and democracy are one and indivisible.

The working class is in a key and central position to fight back against the ruling capitalist class and its power. The working class is the major force worldwide that can lead the way to a socialist future - to a real radical democracy from below.

The Socialist Party fights for progressive changes compatible with a socialist future. We support militant working class struggles and electoral action, independent of the capitalist controlled two-party system, to present socialist alternatives. We strive for democratic revolutions - radical and fundamental changes in the structure and quality of economic, political, and personal relations - to abolish the power now exercised by the few who control great wealth and the government.

 

Political Insiders Poll

Submitted by Roanman on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 18:09
 
National Journal polled the couple hundred political insiders from each party listed below and asked them the following question.
Click anywhere below for the poll results and National Journal's selected responses.
 
 
 
Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Deb Callahan, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Kam Kuwata, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O’Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Wendy Sherman, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Katrina Swett, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
 
Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Steve Duprey, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Mindy Fletcher, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, George S. LeMieux, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Connie Partoyan, Dana Perino, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Tom Wilson, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, and Fred Wszolek.
 
 

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