Here here, I recently had a conversation with one of the state leaders of the republican party, and as you might expect his view on a third party was less than enthusiastic.

I explained to him that our votes were precious to us, and not to be taken for granted, that i am sick and tired of people telling me it won't work, can't work, shouldn't be tried etc.

Well just call me a silly idealist, but i for one am willing to go down with my principles intact, than go down voting for the lesser of two evils. since when is that a choice?

i maintain that it is no choice at all. trust me when i tell you that if we keep doing what we have been doing, then we will keep getting what we have been getting.

i am tired of sitting here and saying oh well what can you do. Is that what our founders did, hell no. they stood against the world, conventional wisdom and held firmly to there principles and changed human history, so i wonder, am i so cowardly that i cannot at least use the tools they provided us and stand against tyranny?

I say that no congress shall pass a budget that exceeds it's income....

I say that no congress shall have the right to tax it's citizens using a progressive scale,

are the rich more American than I? I will pay my 10% they can pay there 10%. no more no less, make it an amendment to the constitution itself.

I say that terms of service are too long and need to be altered.
congress shall be a term of 2 years, not to exceed 2 terms
senate shall be 4 years and no more than 2 terms
presidents shall serve 6 years and 1 term

senators should go back to being chosen by the states they represent.

no judge shall be appointed for life, 5 years and they are done. and a manner of impeachment shall be available.

I say that there shall not be one dollar spent on "foreign aid" if you want money from the good ole USA then you had better apply for statehood...

I say that the first thing to be funded and the last thing to be cut is military spending.....

I say the our precious veterans receive the same medical and retirement package that congress now enjoys.

I say that abortiion is a matter for the states to control, and they should be left to there authority.

I say that immigration to the US had better be legal, and any one found to be aiding an abetting criminal behavior themselves should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I believe that if the us is in need of more immigrants that we should be wise and prudent enough to provide a legal means to fill any voids. To do less is immoral, to foster and support a system that dehumanizes people is repugnant, but we reserve the right to be able to verify that the people who come here are willing to shed their previous allegiance and swear allegiance to their new home.

I believe alot more as well, and if you ask i will share. if not i will shut up

I believe the answer is still staring us in the face, the 500 lb gorilla in the room if you will as i read through the posts here i think that we all understand that the "representatives" in power won't here us, it seems to me that our only solid alternative is to put people up there that will represent us and you may ask yourselves "how?" you may be thinking that no matter who we send it never seems to change So i maintain that our only option is to change the status quo.

I have posted this suggestion before, and i will do so until someone convinces me that it won't work.

A third party that begins not at the top, but at the grass roots level, down here in the trenches is our only viable solution that i can see. I still believe that there are good and decent people who ran on principles and went to Washington believing they could make a difference. John Mcain while not among them still illustrated to us all how a small minority in the senate could wield all the power, if there were only a 15% shift in the house, where all spending originates that minority could hold up all legislation, and weed out the garbage. they would have to be tough, strong minded strong willed and morally founded individuals, but people like this do exist, and would be supported whole heartedly by us. Never wavering. We may not get there the first election cycle, it may take awhile, but if we never start, its a pretty safe bet we'll never get there.

we need to begin forming up our values and principles into a solid small platform that we can use as a measuring stick, a way for us to know whether or not the people we put forth are going to hold true.

now while the 9 12 is a good starting point, i believe that the top 50 wish list should begin our search. let us see the results of that straw poll, choose out what are the most important to us, what really defines us, then debate them here, refine them until they are rock rib solid, and begin building our future, or maybe more precisely lets rescue our future and restore our country.

whew! i get a bit long winded at times :)

I have seen some one out here post a new "Contract with America" style list. I think we need to set this up as a "platform. Let us discuss with each other first what the root cause of our probelms are, and then second put together a "contract" that any one who is seeking our vote must sign. Glenn did something like this before the election as I recall, asking guests specific question on their stance. i think We The People need to assemble a basic list of principles that they must sign on to, to garner our support. I have often thought that it would be a hoot to put together a site that not only would do that, but also put together a "Build A Bill" area like a Wikipedia type sight where people could craft solutions to problems. I have the domain greaterminds.com, that is not being used for anything of importance, if anyone out there has the talent i would be more than willing to dedicate the site to this cause.

Amen brother Amen, and thank you for your service to a sometimes undeserving nation.

Ben Ben Ben, it is unfortunate that you make such statements my friend, if you have only listened to Glenn for a short time, i can understand those previous statements, however, if you have listend for any lenght of time at all you know full well that his disillusionment as well as ours started sometime ago. So let us be calm and rational for a moment. I for one am not here to defend the past, any more than i am here to critizise it, i think that we should focus our energy and "spirit" on fixing the future. I personally feel that we have all been led down the primrose path, and while that knowledge will undoubtably lead to to anger when first discovered it can be turned to firm resolve, if we, that means you and I, have the courage to face the truth and stand shoulder to shoulder to restore our country.

I have a suggestion, that I believe could work, and please here me out. While in the past 3rd party has been tried and failed, i believe there is a viable way to make it work, In the past, 3rd party has tried to get control and support from the top down. ie presidential candidate. But I believe the key is to find the "good" people already in place that are as disgusted and disillusioned as we are, and turn them. demonstrate to them that with the current 2 party system that if this 3rd party could secure 10% of the Senate and 15 to 20 % of the House nothing could pass either house without this party's approval. a strong and passionate leader could make this case, and get enough conservative support, we could change it all. I firmly believe that these people do exist, and i also believe that they could be swayed, I still believe that there are some people that try to get elected to "serve" their country and stop the nonsense. But they just get swept away as so much chaff in the breeze. When we are ready to make this change we are going to need good people to work with us. I have given this matter a great deal of thought, and it amazes me that it hasn't yet been tried. The McCain 14 was a great example of the power this minority could hold. As I look at the current situation it occurs to me that our situation was inevitable. The left has moved farther left, the right has moved left, and a vacancy has been created where we stand. This is a viable solution, as a matter of fact i believe that it is the only viable way to really make a change.

If you read the whole post, thank you for hearing me out
John Messenger