There have been third party movements in the past, but the likelihood of a successful third party is increasing rapidly because of the dysfunctionality of both the Republicans and the Democrats.
This post will take a look at the newest attempt.
On July 27, 2022, A Political Action Committee announced that they had merged with the Serve America Movement and the Renew America Movement to further its efforts to form a new third party and that the group would be known as the Forward Party. Its stated goal is to provide an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties.
The Political Action Committee was founded by Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, who describes its goals as the reduction of partisan polarization and the implementation of electoral reforms. Yang criticized American political leaders, writing that “our leaders are rewarded based not on solving problems but on accruing resources and retaining office.” That much is true!
Be advised! This post is not an endorsement of the Forward Party or Andrew Yang, but I do like the idea of a less partisan America, and I like some of the things the Forward Party says it stands for.
They like Rank-order voting, and so do I. Our current system too heavily rewards the candidates that survive the primaries which lends itself to polarized voting. Usually we are left to pick between two candidates we dislike in order to choose the “lesser of two evils.”
They like nonpartisan primaries, and so do I. Everyone who wants to run for a given office should be allowed to enter the same primary, and the top vote getters move on to the general election. Candidates should not be identified with a party. They should be identified by the stances they take on the issues.
They like independent redistricting commissions, and so do I. The current partisan gerrymandering of district lines results in “safe” seats, an ever-widening partisan political divide, and the election of increasingly extreme voices.
The Forward Party has announced that it will launch on September 24, 2022 with its first national convention in summer 2023.
Here are some more of its goals:
An 18-year term limit for members of Congress. That’s too long.
A cabinet-level Department of Technology. It’s a plausible idea.
Human-centered Capitalism. I like the sound of that!
Universal Basic Income. That sounds too expensive and too socialistic to me!
Automatic tax filing. I am for anything that simplifies the tax system and the tax code.
A Universal health care system. That would be a huge increase in government bureaucracy.
Public finance of political campaigns in the form of vouchers that citizens give to candidates. Anything that removes the undue influence of money in our elections would be welcome.
No new federal departments, we have too many already.
“Human-centered Capitalism” would be directed by the political class. Nonsense, it reminds me of Hilary Clinton saying, “redefine what it means to be human.” Market capitalism is the most humane economic system ever invented, it is centered on buyers and sellers freely exchanging money for goods and services. Anything else is dictatorship. Government’s proper role is to enforce laws against assault, theft, fraud, and to reduce negative externalities, i.e., pollution reduction and traffic safety.
Abolish all income and payroll taxes, preplace them with the Fair Tax Act of 2021, HR 25. Any party that can’t promote this is worthless.
Forced taxpayer funding of political campaigns does not remove the undue influence of money in elections. It will replace free choice donations with government bureaucrats who will decide which candidates are worthy. The percent of federal tax filers who check the box to send a little money to the Presidential Election Fund, fell from 28% in 1976 to 3.3 % in 2021. See the electorate’s learning curve at the following site.
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/fiscal-fact/presidential-election-campaign-fund-2021
Partisanship exists because of different policy preferences among the people. All polities have partisans. Partisan politics is a redundancy. North Korea, China, and Cuba don’t have much partisanship. Russia reduced it recently.
Richard: You said, “No new federal departments, we have too many already.”
It is a mistake to judge the needs of the future based on the limited results of the past!
Richard, you said, ““Human-centered Capitalism” would be directed by the political class. Nonsense, it reminds me of Hilary Clinton saying, “redefine what it means to be human.” Market capitalism is the most humane economic system ever invented, it is centered on buyers and sellers freely exchanging money for goods and services.”
I hesitate to let a comparison between myself and Hilary Clinton to go unchallenged. Let me just say that humans seem stubbornly entrenched in many different ruts of our own making. Taking on the task of “redefining what it is to be human” is beyond me. I will however lend my feeble voice to the idea that the markets (and corporations) could and should factor in the human needs of employees and workers, as one element of business strategy, is good business and good for America.
You may have mis-read the part about campaign financing. I don’t believe the Forward party is recommending the “forced” funding of campaigns by taxpayers. The idea is not to take the funding out of our pockets, but to give us the funding and let us choose the candidate to receive it back. I assume this would coincide with efforts to eliminate Big Money interests from dominating the selection process, as they do now.
Finally, you said, “Partisanship exists because of different policy preferences among the people. All polities have partisans. Partisan politics is a redundancy. North Korea, China, and Cuba don’t have much partisanship. Russia reduced it recently.” I disagree with the first part of that statement. The increasingly high (astronomical) levels of partisanship we are experiencing today is not simply determined by different policy preferences among the people. The great divide is driven by ham-fisted and knuckleheaded partisan rhetoric on both sides which leads us to believe that our neighbors are our enemies. Horse hockey!