H.R. 1 Has Poison Pill To Kill Minor Party Competition

With much fanfare among voting rights, electoral reform and good government advocates, H.R. 1 — the For the People Act — has passed the House and is now on the way to the Senate.

Authored by Maryland’s own John Sarbanes (D-3rd), H.R. 1 is an omnibus electoral reform bill allegedly intended to strengthen voting rights, enhance campaign finance reform, and address government ethics and corruption in politics. Together with H.R. 4 — the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — H.R. 1 is a pillar of the Democrats’ response to our country’s democracy crisis.

But democracy for whom?

H.R. 1 contains a poison pill designed to reduce political competition and voter choice by weakening minor parties, at exactly a time where, according to a recent Gallup poll, support for a third party is at an all-time high.

Continue reading

Third Parties In The US Are More Important Than You Think

Donald Trump put the kibosh on the idea of a new right-wing party at last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Trump’s followers will remain in the Republican Party, where they’ve established themselves as the biggest and most influential faction. Even so, the mere fact that the possibility of a new “MAGA” or “Patriot Party” was discussed reflects the ongoing desire for more clearly defined political parties in the United States.

Americans across a range of political persuasions yearn for three or more parties. Recent polls showed 63 percent of Republicans think a third party is necessary, which is up 10 percent since 2018, and 68 percent want Trump to lead it. A poll of Republicans taken in mid-February registered a double-digit majority — 46 to 27 percent — ready to abandon the GOP and join a Trump party.

Continue reading

Deception 2020: One Party, Two Flavors

In this second installment of the Deception 2020 Series, we dig into the so-called Two Party System in order to highlight the stark similarities that drive both the red and blue — namely, corporate power. Interestingly enough, Mussolini had a good quote on just this form of government…
Then, we sit down with Nick Braña, National Coordinator for The Movement for a People’s Party, to talk about one alternative to the blue and red dumpster fires.

Continue reading

Fortress On A Hill: Interview With Robert ‘Bob’ Scheer Part II

Okay, let me answer a question that was raised before we got into this and some of the thoughts that Danny, connected with me, how do you get social change? And what is the role of electoral politics and so forth. And here I will draw upon my 84 years on this earth because I am old, I can remember from my childhood when I was 234 years old, that Roosevelt was not doing enough to get us out of the depression and This was already his second term. And the stuff that he was doing only became because you had the veterans marches. You had trade unions submerging the industrial unions. You had people protesting major Danny said I was a red diaper, baby. Yes. My parents were union activists. My father had been a wobbly. He was something I then he was a social democrat. And then he flirted with a few months with communists or something.

Continue reading