It's My Party and I'll Piss and Moan if I Want To

My political awareness was born in 1972 when as a nine year old riding the school bus to the Archie T. Morrison School I overhead some other kids say that Nixon was going to make kids go to school on Saturday.  That night I asked my parents if that was true and if they would be voting for the other guy.  In unison my mom and dad said “Ricky, we live in Massachusetts of course we will be voting for the other guy, he’s a Democrat.”    The other guy was George McGovern and the only state he carried was Massachusetts, and in the process I experienced my first political loss.  On the plus side Nixon didn’t last and I still got Saturday’s off.
My political interests lay dormant until 1984 when as a registered Democrat I voted for Ronald Reagan in my first presidential election; was Mondale really a choice?  For the next 26 years as registered Democrat I have voted for many Democratic candidates, a few Republicans, and backed socially progressive ballot measures.  It has been over the last 10 years that my interests in politics, policy, economics, and current events as greatly increased and why this fall I decided to start this blog as a catharsis for the fermenting rage I was feeling watching and reading the news and editorials.
 The polarization of the political spectrum in the US and the west has left many of its citizens disenfranchised, dissatisfied, and disaffected with politics and politicians; The liberals on the left who think victory is sticking it to the rich and all problems can be solved with more spending, and the conservatives on the right who believe all social change is evil and that all spending is bad.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg summed it up best "We need our federal and state governments to chart a middle way – between a government that would wash its hands of the problem and one that seeks to supplant the private sector; between a government that would stand on the sidelines and one that would take over the game."  The middle ground:  the place where 80% of Americans live.
This week I changed my political affiliation from Democrat to None.  The tipping point was Democrat liberal base reaction to the President’s tax deal with Senate Republicans.  I would still be a member if that perpetually disorganized club if its anger was based on the extra $1billion in deficit spending and not based on complaints about the estate tax and millionaire tax cuts.  The 2006, 2008, and 2010 election results have left us a Congress that is polarized as many moderates have been effectively purged.  Who will speak for me and the other fiscally responsible/socially progressive citizens? How about the New Progressive Party that believes in:
-        Social Issues: Equal rights, immigration reform, pro choice, stem cell research, 1st Amendment defense
-        Policy Issues: Term limits, eliminate all arcane senate rules, legalize marijuana,
-        Fiscal Issues: Consumption not Income Taxes, balanced budget amendment, line item veto, social security and Medicare restructuring, pay as you go, binding deficit reduction
-        National security issues: Energy diversification, environmental protection, innovation and education, nuclear arms reduction, coexistence with China
It’s just an idea and a dream. 

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