Political Cola War Leaves A Foul Taste In Our Mouths

HEY, FRIEND, DO YOU EVER GET TIRED of the state of politics, being just another untenable mire, where a pro wrestling match is more dignified than the state of political discourse today?
We have watched it deteriorate to the point where the two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, are basically straitjacketing us into having to vote for the lesser of two evils. Remember the cola wars of the 1980s? Actually, they are still going on today. And sadly the state of politics has descended to just that. Just as Diet Coke battles Diet Pepsi, Diet Bush battles Diet Dean. Diet Schwarzenegger battles Diet Angelides. Diet Frist battles Diet Reid. Diet Hastert battles Diet Pelosi. Diet Cheney battles Diet Gore.
And the whole bloody thing has left a bad taste in our mouths.
The Democrats and others susceptible to more liberal viewpoints or maybe illiberal is a better word, including antiwar activists and the controlled American media, the likes of CNN, New York Times, and Newsweek magazine, have become bogged down in irrational partisan hatred which we have seen erupt from the likes of Howard Dean, Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Kerry, and John Murtha, and have maligned the President and his administration some of it necessary, other parts unnecessary, however much freedom they have to do so, but sometimes there comes a time when enough is enough and folks need to settle down.
And they have also resorted to using trial lawyers and civil rights organisations to sue against the things they don't agree with, from Bush administration policies they don't like to immigration reforms to education reforms.
But the Republicans are not off the hook either: They have proven highly ineffective and have worked to accelerate government spending faster than the Clinton administration EVER did, even adding a new (and ineffective) Cabinet level department. What we needed instead was a DIVISION of Homeland Security---under the authority of the State Department. What we have instead...is both parties accelerating spending at a dangerous rate, creating more bureaucracy and appeasing illegal aliens who jumped our borders to get here for fear of being sued by trial lawyers some of who are part of a group which just changed their name in order to try to gain more respect when what they need is a total reformation of how they conduct themselves in first place.
And the Republicans have ramped up spending, some of it for justifiable reasons, like rebuilding a defence neglected by the Clinton Administration, with other elements unneeded, like increased spending for social services for illegal aliens even with vigourous public sentiment opposed to such moves. Additionally they have enacted at least three consecutive years of massive spending increases that we should ALL be concerned about.
Add to that the debacles behind Portgate---in which only public outcry prevented a sale of American ports facilities to the United Arab Emirates-government owned Dubai Ports World---which Republicans openly supported, President Bush included---then add in the failure to fully establish a coherent energy policy---and you realise we have a massive mess on our hands.
So why is it that we have only Diet Bush and Diet Dean to pick from? Where the hell is our SevenUp, our Dr Pepper, our A&W Root Beer, our Royal Crown Cola? We may yet have to find our own solution if the politicians can't get out of this political cola war and start working together. It may be time to start looking to another party on our own, the Libertarians, the Greens, the US Taxpayers Party, the Constitution Party, the Socialists, the Peace and Freedom Party...
That's why I respect folks like my state's junior senator, Jim Talent, R-MO, who has worked to cross party lines for the sake of getting the job done. He's facing vicious attacks from Claire McCaskill on the DNC side as she challenges him for his seat. Looks to me like she's bound to become a two-time loser, having lost to Matt Blunt in the gubernatorial race in '04. That's also why I respect Roy Blunt, Matt's father, and also the House Majority Whip, my Congressman, in the Seventh District, because he has worked to get more cohesion and more sensible policies implemented, not to mention he has helped get more road construction money to Missouri which had experienced deteriorating road conditions. If you had driven down the I-44 in Missouri from St Louis to Joplin or the I-70 from St Louis to Kansas City or US71 from the Arkansas line to the Iowa line in the early 2000s you would understand, as the rough condition of the roads would have you bouncing so much you'd think your car had hydraulics. US54, MO5, US60, MO7, MO17, US65, US63, the whole lot...ALL of them suffering. But road monies started pouring in even when Bob Holden was still governor, and that money has been poured into rebuilding existing routes and even building new routes, including southwestern Missouri where I live, and where expansive growth has spread from Springfield, from Branson, from Joplin, from northwestern Arkansas, which has de facto claimed McDonald County at the very southwest corner in its metropolitan area. (Little do most folks know is Mac County almost became part of Arkansas for real: Jefferson City snubbed McDonald County on a state map in the early 1960s and Mac County almost seceded from Missouri to join Arkansas.)
That is also why I respect Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, a true Democrat with a very rational and mature viewpoint which the likes of Jack Kennedy and even Lyndon Johnson exhibited. He has worked hard with the administrations of BOTH Bushes even though he has voted against George W Bush 90 percent of the time, yet he is being attacked by people in his own party simply for his friendship with talk radio host Sean Hannity and for supporting the current War on Terror. Lieberman may wind up a lame duck Senator simply for his beliefs, but they are principled beliefs which his party the Democrats have abandoned for no good reason. Lieberman is an old school liberal, with a respect for those whom he disagrees with, yet George Soros amongst those pumping money into Ned Lamont's campaign to unseat Lieberman in the primary shows irrational vitriol toward the GOP and toward the President.
Let us remember the last time George Soros pumped money into a Democrat campaign...which was in an effort to basically buy John Kerry the White House. Bush still won by 3 percent of the vote...and appears to have gone weak as have the GOP.

WHAT THE GOP MUST DO TO IMPROVE THEIR STANDING WITH THE ELECTORATE

1) The GOP must adopt a back-to-basics approach. This may mean returning to the values that put them back into control of the House and the Senate in 1994 after an eight year run as the Senate minority and that 40 year run as the House minority. Time to bring back the Contract With America, maybe?
2) Cut spending in unnecesary areas. The flat tax is looking more attractive every day. Talk radio host Neal Boortz has just written a successful book about that measure.
I would suggest a 7 percent flat tax, with the following measures:
A) Standard deductions must be raised
1) $17.500 for single taxpayers
2) $42.500 for married filing jointly
3) $7.500 for EACH of the following
a) Children
b) College age children living at home
c) Differently abled
1) Which require special healthcare needs
2) And even special transport needs
d) Old age pensioners
B) Corporate taxes need to be lowered, maybe to as low as 7 percent, though 11 percent would be tolerable
1) With a libertarian array of tax breaks
a) For job development
1) Establishing manufacturing facilities in the USA
2) Relocating jobs into the United States from outside the USA
b) For taking care of employees' primary and secondary benefits
1) Like childcare
2) And healthcare programmes
3) And even dental care programmes
2) Make it easier to do business in the United States
a) Relax regulations that hamstring business development
b) Make it easier to start one's own business
c) Make it easier for small businesses to keep pace with larger businesses
d) Establish tax credits to modernise equipment
e) Establish tax credits for taking advantage of alternative energies
1) Tax credits for creating biofuels
2) Tax credits for building equipment and vehicles capable of running on biofuels
3) Tax credits for using a certain percentage of vehicles capable of running on biofuels
3) Close unnecesary departments at the cabinet level and relegate those duties to lower entities or even the private sector.
a) Close the Department of Education.
1) Let the local communities and the states handle this capacity.
2) Let the private sector handle this capacity.
b) Close the Department of Health and Human Services.
1) Let the local and state agencies handle this capacity.
2) Let the private sector handle this capacity.
3) Make it easier for doctors to operate without an HMO.
4) Let the states handle food stamps and food distribution.
c) Close the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
1) Let local communities handle this capacity.
2) Let the private sector handle this too.
d) Close the Department of the Interior.
1) But leave the Parks Service and Fish & Game Office as stand-alone agencies. THEY are effective.
2) However the rest of the Department can be handled at the State level.
e) Close the Department of Energy.
1) We can handle this far better in the private sector.
2) What innovations have the DoE contributed to energy development lately?
f) Close the Department of Commerce.
1) We can let the private sector handle this one.
2) Anytime a government agency is developed for the sake of managing the business climate we run the risk of a managed economy like that which is in place in China or Viet Nam.
g) Fold the Department of Homeland Security into the State Department.
1) Homeland Security have been mismanaged from day one. Some oversight from an appropriate agency will benefit it as a Division of Homeland Security.
2) Practically all functions in the department work better as State Department functions.
h) Fold the Veterans Affairs Department into the Defence Department.
1) After all, where else would you expect such affairs to be handled best?
2) Fewer departments means less overhead.
i) A reduced workload on the part of the central government will leave a myriad of benefits.
1) Americans will experience a lower tax burden.
2) Americans will see a more efficient government.
3) With fewer layers of bureaucracy more Americans will see more money for investment and more money for economic stimulation.
4) Continue working toward laws that safeguard individual freedoms.
a) Work to protect gun ownership rights
1) Work to repeal gun bans of all kinds
2) Work toward implementing a concealed carry law in every state and even at the federal level like those in states like Vermont or Alaska
3) Work toward allowing concealed carry even inside certain locations
A) Like schools
1) To deter criminal conduct
2) To deter violent assaults
B) Courthouses
1) So the common man can work to safeguard lives as necessary including
a) Judges
b) Crime victims
c) Witnesses
d) Prosecutors
e) Bailiffs
f) Law enforcement
2) So the common man can help work to prevent additional crime as necessary
C) Banks
1) To prevent bank robberies
2) To help safeguard armoured transporters
3) To prevent violent assault
D) Other businesses
1) To prevent armed robberies
2) To prevent violent assaults
b) Work toward criminalising the abuse of eminent domain
1) Ensure that the recent executive order from President Bush mandating limitation on the use of eminent domain is a framework for further reforms of the practise
2) Forbid, in ALL states, the use of eminent domain
A) For transfer of land to another private entity, ESPECIALLY for the sake of satisfying the government's idealistic bottom line
B) For the establishment of "open space" or ANY OTHER limited use capacity not designed for greater benefit of the ENTIRE community
C) If a landowner says no to a prospective project and does not want to move
c) Work toward preserving traditional freedoms
1) Work to mandate that ALL ideologies are respected in education
2) Work to mandate that ALL ideologies are taught with equal measure
3) Work to mandate reduced regulations in our lives for the sake of preserving freedom for future generations

The Democrats need a bit more work of their own but there are simple solutions for them as well.

WHAT THE DNC MUST DO TO IMPROVE THEIR STANDING WITH THE ELECTORATE

1) CAN THE IRRATIONAL PARTISAN HATRED---NOW.
a) STOP ATTACKING THE PRESIDENT FOR THE SAKE OF ATTACKING HIM.
1) Start learning how to compose more critical and structured arguments.
2) Start rooting those arguments in fact-based information, instead of partisan disinformation.
b) STOP ATTACKING THE REPUBLICANS FOR THE SAKE OF ATTACKING THEM.
1) Make an effort to work with Republicans.
2) Have a truly open mind toward their ideas and find a rational argument against them.
3) Hold a TRUE dialogue with Republicans. The Democrats might even find some of their ideas worth supporting, and they will probably consider some of their ideas too.
2) Start adopting a more coherent platform.
a) And start adopting one that is more freedom-oriented.
b) Show consistency on ALL of the Constitutional amendments.
c) Stop relying on the trial lawyers to handle lawsuits when elections don't go their way.
1) Simply learn to accept defeat if they lose elections and move on.
2) Don't hold the democratic process hostage for the sake of pushing their agenda.
d) Stop relying on activist judges who inspire inflammatory opinions from the majority of the populace.
3) Make an effort to work with those who oppose their POV.
a) Work to get along with their opponents. They might be surprised at the positive results.
b) Don't force their ideology upon captive audiences like schoolchildren.
1) They should present a truly unbiased view of history.
2) Don't politicise EVERY subject in school college or university.
3) Don't force obviously very young children into sex education programmes.
a) This means no pushing primary school children into graphic depictions or descriptions of sexual activity.
b) No promoting books about sexuality upon primary school children. Let the parents handle this capacity.
c) Respect the wishes of parents who decide they do not want their children in such programmes. Don't force children to attend if their parents don't want them in those programmes.
4) Don't teach them "new math" or "new English" or "ebonics". Teach them the subjects the way they were meant to be taught.
c) Stop attacking religious expression in public.
1) Stop suing to prevent the display of crosses and Magendavids (Stars of David) on War Memorials.
2) Stop suppressing the free exercise of religion in public, this includes Christianity, Wicca, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
3) Remove all objections to school prayer.
4) Stop suing to remove crosses and fish from city seals.

With those suggestions in place for both parties maybe we can put a stop to this political cola war that has left a foul taste in all of our mouths.
A very foul taste at that.
And one which we still need something to wash out of our mouths. SevenUp anyone? Dr Pepper, A&W, how about some iced tea?
Or even a capful of mouthwash---maybe even the medicinal Listerine?