If it seems that these ideas contradict each other - you may be right:
- We are for free-enterprise
- We are against predatory corporations
- We believe that the Bush administration is a danger to everything that America is supposed to represent.
- We aren't particularly impressed by the modern Democratic party. They are no longer effective enough to be a danger.
- We believe that people should be responsible for themselves and for their children.
- We also believe that when someone is knocked flat, they should be given help - not a hand-out - but a hand up.
- No one should have to root in dumpsters for tin cans - not while the windows at city hall need washing.
- We believe that individuals in business should have a certain amount of freedom to be dishonest and corrupt. The marketplace and the legal system will teach them better. But remember the immortal words of George W. Bush: "Justice should be fair".
- Corporations are an artificial entity created by government action and should be held to a higher standard. A corporation should have no right to political free speech - any more than it has a right to vote. If a corporation needs to deliver a message to congress, that message should be delivered by its shareholders. *
- Legislation that is supposed to protect the public should not be used to lock out competition. Brain surgeons and structural engineers need training and certification. A lot of other "professions" should be open to anyone who can do the job.
- We believe that politicians should be our representatives, not our rulers. And they should be reminded frequently that they were elected, not ennobled.
- We believe in corporate democracy. The board of directors of any corporation should be nominated and elected by the shareholders. We deserve better than the fake corporate democracy we have now. Shareholders have the right to know what is going on in their company, and corporate auditors should be completely separate from corporate management. Auditors should be selected by, and should report to, an entity that is only responsible to the shareholders.
- Lobbyists should have a much more limited place in politics. If a piece of legislation is too complex for our representatives to write without help, that piece of legislation should probably not be written. Or possibly we need smarter representatives - people who know something besides how to get votes.
- Any input to the legislative process should be in written form and available to the public, on-line, before it can even be considered by a representative.
- No representative's vote should be valid unless he can demonstrate that he has read the legislation that he is approving. Asking for understanding is probably stretching a point.
- We believe in the separation of church and state. If a particular religious group wishes to put up a nativity scene on public property, they should be allowed to pay a fair rent for the space and put up whatever they want. Let the marketplace decide. And let the proceeds be directed to such worthy activities as feeding the hungry and comforting the afflicted.
- The pledge of allegiance should be amended to read: "...one nation under God, (known to some as Jesus and to others as Allah and to still others as Buddha or the Tao), indivisible...".
- The Second Amendment was placed in the constitution to insure that a free people would always be armed and capable of an armed rebellion when circumstances require such action.