Reflections on gratitude, frustration, and a new political party:

 So, while I still feel grateful to be who I am, where I am, with the freedom I enjoy, the security I enjoy both physical and financial, and the pride I harbor as a citizen of the most dynamic country in history, I can't help but be a bit frustrated by the partisan bull shit, dysfunctional, uncompromising, behavior of our legislative branch of government as exemplified by the super committee's inability to come to any sort of agreement on deficit reduction as they were tasked with, even though all concerned agree with the overwhelming necessity to do so! Wow 98 words in one sentence. I suppose I could have left out some of the adjectives.
My frustration stems from the evolution of both parties, which has not been for the better. Both parties have become way more about representing the extreme ideology of ether the far right or left, and way less about representing the real interests of the majority whether democratic, republican, or independent. Bureaucracies, which I think any political party would qualify as, have a tendency to develop a life of their own, and over time it's participants become slaves to an ideology which may have once made sense but no longer holds merit.
I have generally regarded myself as an independent since I tend to have a social liberal leaning and a more conservative fiscal position, but even those basic party policies have blurred. I mean, republican fiscal responsibility is somewhat of an oxymoron when you consider that 3 of the 5 years with the highest federal government spending ever (as present of GDP) were during the presidency of George W. Bush. BTW, the other 2 were during WWII.
This may sound simplistic, but I think we need a third party. I think it should be called the common sense party. It might be time for someone to be able to run for any political office with logical, pragmatic, reasonable thought, rather than deference and cow tow to ether the evangelicals or the labor unions or the millions of other special interests. We sure get an ear full of the "blame game" these days with each party blaming the other for whatever is pissing people off at the moment, be it, health care, entitlement spending, unemployment, to much regulation, not enough regulation, whether or not a guy couple can marry, or a straight couple can divorce,and whether or not pizza should be classified as a vegetable for school lunch programs. So anyone with half a brain (as long as it's the left half) must realize that no one person or political party or group or corporation is solely to blame for our ills or solely responsible for our blessings. It's all a big combination and a constant adversarial approach with no room for compromise seems unpractical at best and just plain stupid at worst.
We could start with a few common sense, rather universally accepted duties of our federal government. 1. Defense: we may argue all day about how much to spend on defense of our country but i think we can all agree that it is the job of federal government. 2. Education: while it isn't written in our constitution that education is a right of every citizen, it sure has been one of the most significant contributors to our nation’s success. 3. Infrastructure: Any efficient, free market economy needs modern efficient infrastructure to function. It's not just raw materials and innovation, we need roads, rails, bridges, canals & waterways, harbors, and energy production ( more on that one later) that are modern and in good repair to retain our place as an economic power. Let's face it, our current infrastructure is far from modern or efficient. 4. Financial regulation: Ok this is kinda sticky I admit. However America didn't become a financial super power by being a free for all. We became the world financial center due in large part to the regulated, fair, level, safe, playing field we provide. I realize the fine line that has to be walked, but to assure our financial further we must find that balance.
From here, it would be nice not to pass on a mountain of public debt to our kids and grand kids; that just seems very selfish to me. Also, it would be good not to trash our planet with continued massive carbon emissions. Once again, it won't make much difference to us baby boomers, or even Gen-x-ers, but it is rather bogus to pass along even the possibility of global catastrophe just because we were too cheap and selfish to implement strategies of renewable energy.
This is basically been an American formula for success that has been lost or at least obscured in recent times mostly because of the partisan bickering which has become our political norm. Soooooooo.....let's stop it. Only an idiot believes that only he has all the answers and only a party of idiots can believe they alone have all the answers. Why not listen to what the other guy has to say and accept responsibility for your own mistakes....what a novel concept. I will close this observation with two final thoughts: If the tea party guy wants less government, less tax and more personal responsibility, than he better fucking well be educated enough to accept that responsibility!!.... AND: If the liberal guy wants more government, and a bigger more expansive social safety net, than he better fucking well be ready to pay for it.... After all, there is no free lunch !!!!! and even though some frozen processed food lobby got the frozen pizza classified as a vegetable in the New York state legislature for their " healthy" public school lunch program
(which probably cost the lobbyist quite a few free lunches) I'll admit that a "Hanks Big Pizza" with mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes would qualify. But then, he might have paid me to say that.
The bottom line is that most people of differing political beliefs (at least the ones I talk to) usually agree on more than they care to admit or ever realize. So WTF, let's start acting like it and through example show our elected officials how to behave. Who knows, maybe the super committee could have come to a consensus........not !!

hummmmm....maybe

First Post 11/30/2011 The inexplicable actions of a super committee. Super heroes? Not quite!

Welcome to the Common Sense Party Blog:

First Post 11/30/2011
The inexplicable actions of a super committee. Super heroes? Not quite!

Since my 14 year old daughter just set up this blog site for me, I must start by saying thanks to her. For that matter saying thanks to all the kids of her generation who are in no uncertain terms our future and hope for a better tomorrow. It never ceases to amaze me that with all my experience in life and supposed intelligence, that a 14 year old can do most things involving technology in a few minutes that would take me hours, and create anger and frustration in the process. Not that I dislike or resist IT or modern technology of any kind, in fact, to the contrary  I rather embrace It, and over the last 15 years, have learned not to be afraid of it. It just seems to me that kids have no inherent fear of technology to get over in the first place. I accept that as a good thing, especially when it comes to setting up a blog site or a Face Book account, but I just grew up without the convenience of an "escape" or "undo" button. I'm uncertain as to whether this is a positive or negative development in society, and in my life, but........for now.......I like it. So thanks Annie for setting me up.


I am starting out this blog with a face book post I wrote a few days ago. It was actually the fact that my face book page, which by the way, my daughter also set up for me last year about this time, was turning into a geopolitical, economic, sociological, discussion board that led to this blog. I will no doubt continue to post observations regarding current affairs, disease advocacy, Type one diabetes and related research and government policies, national politics, and basically whatever pops up on my faced book page, but we thought it might be fun to do this as well and see if anyone followed along.

So this is a post which appropriately started out with a gratitude list since it was just after thanksgiving, but then led to a feeling of frustration with our legislative branch of government. This was appropriate as well since it was just after the appointed “super committee” had just failed to achieve the requisite spending cuts to keep the sequester process from kicking in. What the heck, 1.2 trillion, come on guys, someone needs to get real here. So this frustration was getting a little more amplified (to eleven) by the fact that 2 out of the 6 House members on the committee are from right here in west Michigan. Yep, our own district 4 Congressman Dave Camp, sitting chair of house ways and means committee and district 6 Congressman Fred Upton, sitting chair of house energy and commerce committee. Now, I have met both these guys, and regard both as pretty intelligent, reasonable dudes. I have to say that I tend to alien with Upton to some degree because he is a moderate republican who supports embryonic stem cell research, is pro choice and is a fiscal conservative. He likes kids, supports education, has supported renewed funding for the special diabetes program, and by any measure is a conscientious, open minded guy. Dave Camp is not my favorite Congressional representative by any means, mostly for his social conservative position which bugs me, but I will save that whole bag of hypocrisies for a later discussion……(that’s right, I have a blog, I can just talk about that stuff tomorrow)……Anyway, even though Camp is not exactly in my Camp, as it were, when it comes to social issues, he is none the less a smart guy who I can and do have respect for. 

So how is it that these reasonable guys could fail to come up with any semblance of an agreement when so much was and still is at stake? I have not met the other 4 house members or any of the 6 Senate, but none have the reputation of being a total wacko and around November 7 it actually appeared like there might be a compromise (did I actually say compromise…..there it is again compromise…not so hard to say…actually pretty easy…… kind of rolls off your tong for a three syllable word….actually not even hard to spell for a dyslexic…..wonder  why it has become such a reprehensible concept for these guys) sorry, I digress. So nobody there is a total blow hole and all these reasonable men know, for example, that seventy thousand teaching jobs, more than one billion in Title I grants to disadvantaged school districts, nearly 900 million in funding for special education students, and more K-12 educational expenditures will be axed smack in the middle of the 2012-2013 school year. It’s not that they don’t give a shit….sooo why????? WTF????

I think it might have more to do with the whole system, and the parties themselves than the individual. Also, believe it or not, the MEDIA, play a big part in the polarization of America political society. If one were to switch back and forth from FOX to MSNBC it actually would not give you any sense of what of what’s happening in the vast, unrepresented, independent, middle, moderate, cross section of the American political public! No, it would just drive you completely nuts with derogatory dialog aimed at the other guy. I happen to know this as I am just unstable and grizzled enough to have done it for the better part of several days. Kids, do not try this at home, unless of course you’re not actually a kid, but an adult and are heavily medicated.
What is it that is causing the right to get righter and the left to get lefter? What is it that is creating an atmosphere in which a candidate must be near the outside edge of the ideological spectrum of ether party to even hope for a nomination?

Enough rambling, but before I sign off for now, I pose several ideas and maybe even a suggestion or two in my own feeble and humble attempt to make progress.

*Media: well what ya gonna do? If you are gullible enough to buy one quarter of the spue on TV than get a life and grow a brain. Now, if you already possess a functioning brain then it would be a good idea to read opinions that don’t just reinforce your own opinions, but pose an opposing argument. Them, try to have an open mind and look for legitimate talking points that don’t necessarily gibe with yours. It’s fun! Try playing “devil’s advocate” and take the other side of a position and debate it with a friend or colleague. This is simply a practice in breaking down pre-disposed opinions and listening to an opposing opinion rather that thinking only of your counter argument as the other guy is talking, but you’re not hearing a thing.

* Non partisan primaries: I heard this from a smart guy who commented on my face book in response to this post. “The next big step would be to have open primaries (as Oregon and California now have) with the two highest vote getters of any or the same party are on the ballot, That lets each voter make his choice of the best PERSON, independent of party. That will tend to let moderate voters be heard and will lessen the power of extreme position holders who capture their parties”. This sounds like a no-brained to me!!

* Term Limits: It seems to me that a “career politician” is way more addicted to his party, and the associated money and support, than the one of two term guy. It would be so pleasant to just to imagine that your representative in congress is actually voting on, and presenting legislation that is genuinely in your best interest and not just to protect his phony baloney jobs. One of my favorite movie lines is Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles “GENTELMAN, WE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR PHONEY BALONEY JOBS”
*Redistricting: It certainly can’t help but further the already cavernous divide between the parties, to redo the congressional districts every ten years, and have the party in power at the time run the show. What ignoramus though that on up?

******Last but not least (for now) we really need a third party. I mean, it to a huge degree, it already exists, it called Independents. We just don’t have any candidates. Nobody represents our position. We are continually forcer to pick the least bad or lesser of two evils! Moderate types in the legislature seem to be less and less, and ether move away from the middle of get drummed out. Remember a rather famous democrat, Joe Lieberman. Bummer Joe, you’re not liberal enough, take a hike. At least Joe was man enough to run as an independent and win (I guess we do have one after all). Evan Bayh D-MI, moderate democrat, pretty pragmatic guy, retiring just because he can no longer stay in a government that is dysfunctional and can’t get anything accomplished beyond bickering. I will not list all the moderate, reasonable republicans who lost to radical right wing types in primary’s’ in ‘08 and’10.
My thought is to name this party the COMMON SENSE PARTY thus the name of this blog, besides it was a name that wasn’t already taken. Anyway, I hope a few people will read, and comment. Whether you agree or not, dialog is good, would be good to keep it civil but dialog is good, so please chine in!


A last thought on the debt super committee by a member who has “been there done that”.

 Perhaps there is only one member of the committee that can put its failure into some perspective as the blame game of why it collapsed began. At an early breakfast meeting of the panel, Democrat James Clyburn, a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, rebuked his fellow committee members when they kept saying how hard it would be to strike a deal

"Do you want to know what's hard?" Clyburn asked. "Desegregating South Carolina in the 1960s. I met my wife in jail."