It is natural for people to band together to seek their goals, but the Republican and Democratic parties have become stand-ins for the eternal battle between liberal and conservative political views. They do not put forth alternative visions of the kind of society they wish to build but spend most of their time fighting and disparaging each other, to the detriment of our nation. Their emphasis on “winning” (and subjugating the other side) spoils most attempts at compromise.
The power of the parties to control our Congresspersons is built on the fact that the majority party gets to appoint Chairpersons of Congressional committees and the reality that they can reward conforming Congresspersons by giving them campaign monies for their next elections and withholding monies from those who do not conform (regardless of the fact that members of both parties do meet together and discuss what the party’s positions will be). I believe that every Congressperson should “vote his/her conscience” on every bill rather than voting the party line, and I will advocate changing the above appointment procedure and making controlling a member’s votes illegal. Committee chairs should be appointed on merit alone, and we must get the big money out of elections.
Two parties are not enough to encompass reality.
Our two major parties are now mostly about power.
Our two major parties seem to spend most of their time fighting each other instead of solving problems.
With two parties basically equal in power, neither one will ever “win,” so our
only hope is useful compromise.
Senators and Congresspersons should vote for what they individually believe in, not what their Parties demand.
Let’s have a President of one party and a Vice-President of another party (who both put the good of all citizens ahead of their political beliefs)!
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