Could the Democratic Part Be Selfless Enough to Unite Behind a Third Party Candidate?
by John Lawrence, January 7, 2018
The next Presidential election in 2020 is crucial if the US is to remain intact as a republic and a democracy. We elected the "Producers" candidate in 2016. For those of you who don't know, the plot of the Producers involved the production of a play that the producers of the play intended to be a flop. Trump just wanted to increase his exposure and his bank account as he had made most of his money off of the "Trump" brand. He never intended to actually be President. Or at least that's how one story line goes. It makes sense. It made him a lot looser than Hillary who wanted desperately to be President. Maybe she was just too earnest.
The Dems and the Left in general need to get back to an economic based theme and not cater to every identity based minority. Trump won by appealing to the majority with a jobs based theme. He probably won't deliver. The fact that the stock market is going bonkers has nothing to do with the 50% of Americans who don't own stocks. The fact that equity in real estate is increasing has nothing to do with the increasing numbers that can't afford to rent much less buy a home. The fact that unemployment is low has nothing to do with the fact that millions are losing good paying jobs and replacing them with minimum wage jobs.
I would like to see third and fourth parties on the Left unite with the Dems on an economic based theme during the primary season, and then all those parties unite behind one candidate, no matter the Party, in the general election. Let the primary season present candidates from various parties. After that the Left should stand united behind basically Bernie Sanders' program in the last election. Infrastructure repairing and rebuilding, bankruptcy protection restored to student loan debtors, free or near free pre-school to graduate school for those who qualify and cannot afford it, strengthening the social safety net including Medicare for all (universal health care). These were some of the planks in Bernie's platform.
How will these programs be paid for? Very simple. Close half of the 1000 military bases staged in practically every country of the world. Trump said that other countries should pay for our protecting them. Well, let them. Take $500 billion away from the trillion dollar annual budget of the military-industrial complex. The US would still have the largest military budget in the world by far. Russia's military budget at $70 billion would still be one tenth of ours even if we cut ours in half! The US doesn't need to be the world's policeman (unless we get paid for it) nor does it need to be the world's hegemon. The slogan "Make America Great Again" should be converted to "Make the American People Greatt Again" by spending on programs that benefit them. Trump fooled them into thinking he was going to restore good paying jobs while all he's accomplished is giving tax breaks to the rich. He has totally backed out on making US allies pay for our military's protection.
Reducing the size and expenditures on the military budget while increasing expenditure on programs that will make the American people great again should be their motto. Education, health care, infrastructure, social security - these are the programs that will make the American people great again and reduce economic inequality. But watch out. The Repubs under Paul Ryan are coming for your social security on the grounds we don't have money to pay for it. No we don't as long as we give money to people who don't need it, and have military ambitions to be the world's hegemon and policeman. While they're at it, the next party in power in the US should reverse the Trump reversals of Obama policies on the environment, global warming and the banking sector. Do we want clean water, clean air, clean food, less corporate fraud, less weather disasters? I think that would make America great again.
