Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 7, 2007 17:56:07 GMT -6
Unity08
Below is a partial statement from their website:
"What We Believe
Unity08 believes that neither of today’s major parties reflects the aspirations, fears or will of the majority of Americans. Both have polarized and alienated the people. Both are unduly influenced by single-issue groups. Both are excessively dominated by money.
For most of the 20th Century, the contest for the U.S. presidency was waged over those “in the middle.” Recent Presidential elections, however, have not been focused on the middle but on the turnout of each party’s special interest groups – with each party’s “base” representing barely ten percent of the American people.
We believe that, while the leaders of both major parties are well intentioned people, they are trapped in a flawed system – and that the two major parties are today simply neither relevant to the issues and challenges of the 21st Century nor effective in addressing them.
As a result, most Americans have not been enthusiastic about the choices for President in recent elections, the key issues they ran on, or the manner in which the campaigns were conducted.
Therefore Unity08 will act to assure that an alternative ticket is presented to the American voters in 2008...
Unity08 on Lobbying and Corruption:
Unity08 strongly believes the corrupting influence of special interest money is a major cause of today’s fundamentally broken political system. Lobbyist money plus pandering to the intense ideological bases by both parties yields the blame-game partisan bickering that has destroyed voter confidence. No other issue will get solved until this one does.
Unity08 intends to fix this broken system by electing a bipartisan “Unity Ticket” to the White House in ‘08 funded solely by small-dollar donations from everyday Americans. As a result the Unity08 President and Vice President will enter office not with favors owed to lobbyists and special interests but with a clear mandate from the American people to cooperate and provide courageous leadership on the most crucial, complex issues facing our country.
Want to better understand why Unity08 feels so strongly about this subject?...
Here is why every American should be concerned about lobbying and corruption:
Most incumbent campaign money comes from D.C. lobbyists, not the incumbent’s congressional-district constituents. Therefore the lobbyists get access to the member of Congress, not the constituents.
The number of lobbyists in Washington has doubled in just six years.
The number of appropriations “earmarked” as special favors has gone from 150 a year under President Reagan to 6300 last year under President Bush.
Those earmarked favors are generally paybacks to the lobbyists.
Members pressure lobbyists to hire former staffers who turn around and lobby for favors in return.
The spouses and children of Members are hired by lobbying firms.
Members retire to high-paying lobbying jobs.
Members spend more time raising money than reading the laws they vote on – money that deters quality opponents from running.
Members also perpetually gerrymander their districts, re-shaping them for advantage in future elections.
Often the only real danger to incumbents is a primary in their own party, which is why they coddle their their “base” with polarizing issues.
Idealistic new Members come to Washington intent on changing things but within a single term the system has sucked them in and down. "
Below is a partial statement from their website:
"What We Believe
Unity08 believes that neither of today’s major parties reflects the aspirations, fears or will of the majority of Americans. Both have polarized and alienated the people. Both are unduly influenced by single-issue groups. Both are excessively dominated by money.
For most of the 20th Century, the contest for the U.S. presidency was waged over those “in the middle.” Recent Presidential elections, however, have not been focused on the middle but on the turnout of each party’s special interest groups – with each party’s “base” representing barely ten percent of the American people.
We believe that, while the leaders of both major parties are well intentioned people, they are trapped in a flawed system – and that the two major parties are today simply neither relevant to the issues and challenges of the 21st Century nor effective in addressing them.
As a result, most Americans have not been enthusiastic about the choices for President in recent elections, the key issues they ran on, or the manner in which the campaigns were conducted.
Therefore Unity08 will act to assure that an alternative ticket is presented to the American voters in 2008...
Unity08 on Lobbying and Corruption:
Unity08 strongly believes the corrupting influence of special interest money is a major cause of today’s fundamentally broken political system. Lobbyist money plus pandering to the intense ideological bases by both parties yields the blame-game partisan bickering that has destroyed voter confidence. No other issue will get solved until this one does.
Unity08 intends to fix this broken system by electing a bipartisan “Unity Ticket” to the White House in ‘08 funded solely by small-dollar donations from everyday Americans. As a result the Unity08 President and Vice President will enter office not with favors owed to lobbyists and special interests but with a clear mandate from the American people to cooperate and provide courageous leadership on the most crucial, complex issues facing our country.
Want to better understand why Unity08 feels so strongly about this subject?...
Here is why every American should be concerned about lobbying and corruption:
Most incumbent campaign money comes from D.C. lobbyists, not the incumbent’s congressional-district constituents. Therefore the lobbyists get access to the member of Congress, not the constituents.
The number of lobbyists in Washington has doubled in just six years.
The number of appropriations “earmarked” as special favors has gone from 150 a year under President Reagan to 6300 last year under President Bush.
Those earmarked favors are generally paybacks to the lobbyists.
Members pressure lobbyists to hire former staffers who turn around and lobby for favors in return.
The spouses and children of Members are hired by lobbying firms.
Members retire to high-paying lobbying jobs.
Members spend more time raising money than reading the laws they vote on – money that deters quality opponents from running.
Members also perpetually gerrymander their districts, re-shaping them for advantage in future elections.
Often the only real danger to incumbents is a primary in their own party, which is why they coddle their their “base” with polarizing issues.
Idealistic new Members come to Washington intent on changing things but within a single term the system has sucked them in and down. "