The Center Lane-American Centrist Party Blog

Correction

nospam@example.com (William Ritter) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:52:36 -0400

The blog by Augustus on blogger.com has been moved to wordpress.com. Below is the new URL:

http://avisionforanewamerica.wordpress.com

Recent find

nospam@example.com (William Ritter) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:17:17 -0400

I was searching through the blogosphere and i found this one on blogger.com. The author's name is Augustus and he seems to be another centrist voice that we could use since by the looks of things he/she just started out.

An interesting thing too is that he took me We the People post from here and put it on his blog. In all honesty I think blogging is stupid but it doesn't hurt to look around and see what nonsense people put up. Below is the site.

http://visionforanewamerica.blogspot.com

We the People

nospam@example.com (William Ritter) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:18:23 -0400

This is the text of my speech I gave during the Marietta, OH Tea Party on April 15th:

“We the People.” Those words begin one of the most important documents in American history. But it is much more than words on paper; it is the philosophy that has guided our country for over 200 years. It is the idea that the common man and woman can shape and create a life for themselves. It is the idea that ultimate power lies not with politicians, nor business leaders, nor any other interests but with those masses that keep the country running: the workers, the strivers, the builders. The power to change the country lies with us, with “we the people.”

As time has gone on, however, we have lost sight of this. We placed our trust in those who say “I will make everything better, just vote for me.” And we did. We all got swept up in the promises that politicians make that common sense took a back seat and we had forsaken what was right for what was easy. But not anymore!

As I look out here at this gathering today I see Americans, not liberals or conservatives, Democrats or Republicans, but Americans, Americans who are standing together here and all across the country and saying in one voice “Enough is enough!”

I am with you; I am tired of watching the news or listening to the radio and hearing that this bank was bailed out, this company was saved, a trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there. I am tired of seeing politicians faking outrage about government spending even as they pass a three and a half trillion dollar budget. Where does it end? I’ll tell you where it ends: it ends with “We the People!”

Only through us do politicians have power. Only through us does the country continue to function. These facts are known to you and me but not to the politicians in Washington. This is evident every day because we constantly hear that they want our opinions but they continue to do the same policies that we are screaming to be stopped.

These problems have no generational boundaries because they screw us all; but the one generation that I believe will get screwed over the hardest will be my generation. Thanks to the policy of spending future wealth in order to pay for programs now, my generation will be paying off the debt for our entire lives. The best example is the ten trillion dollars in spending that is supposed to happen over the next couple of years. My generation is primarily stuck with the bill and it will more than likely go to my kids.

This cannot continue. There is a solution to this problem however. What we see here today, along with the hundreds of Tea Parties across the country, is the first crucial step. We Americans are finally uniting behind a common cause. For all the talk about uniting the country the politicians have forgotten that we have always been united and their continuing attempts to divide us are failing.

In order to give America the change it really needs, there has to be a revolution at the ballot box. Only when we truly wake up to the fact that we are the key to the political process can we truly bring change to the government. We must not be content from here on out. The Silent Majority of hard working, honest Americans must never remain silent anymore and we must hold these politicians accountable. Here is my challenge to you: do not vote for those who have been in office for decades, do not vote for those who promise the universe but vote for those who put their country’s well being first and not the well being of special interests.

This journey will be long and it will not be easy but if you do this our country will be put on the right track and in the future April 15th will be just another sunny day because “we the people” will continue to speak and the politicians will remember that their power comes from “We the People.” This is our time and it is our time to make our mark on history. Thank you and God bless America.

Once again Washington follows Centrists lead

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:59:19 -0400

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Once again Washington follows Centrists lead

It looks like today President Obama has announced his plan for high speed rail. From what I am have been hearing and reading about it, everyone is wowed. They don't even seem to mind how much it would cost and are not even questioning where the money will come from, although I am sure some of it under Obama will come from the recent stimulus bill.

Hold on a second hasn't centrist groups like the American Centrist Party and others been proposing this already? In the American Centrist Party's case since 2004 when it was founded? http://americancentristparty.net/platform%20principles/Infrastructrue%20Platform%20Plank%20Summary.htmThe answer is yes.

I am not writing this to say Obama stole an idea or anything like that. I think it is important that we give credit and support to anyone in Washington who wants to improve the nation and the American Centrist Party thinks that High Speed Rail can and will do that. The issue here is the where is the money going to come from and how the American Centrist Party's plan is different.

Under Obama's plan $8 billion is going to come from the recent stimuls plan as part of the infrastructure part of the bill. And another 5 billion over five years in the federal budget. So at least the first $8 billion of the the high speed rail is going to be added on to the debt of the nation? Here is the American Centrist Party's plan for paying for the rail improvements and construction: http://americancentristparty.net/platform%20principles/Reinvesting%20in%20America%20platform.htm
Note the section regarding infrastructure improvements: "30 billion per year for infrastructure reform to include: work for new bridges, roads, mass magnetic rail intercontinental rail transit, and national broadband Internet access. It is estimated that American infrastructure needs 1 trillion dollars in upgrades and repairs for the 21st century. Amount from 2010-2030: $600 billion dollars." This will more than pay for the high speed/ magnetic rail system and all by slashing redundant programs and reforming spending in the existing budget. No taxes will be needed to be raised and no money will have to be added on to the national debt.

The American Centrist Party is glad that President Obama has decided to come out with a plan for this but it is clear that the American Centrist Party has a much better way for paying for this plan. Hopefully, our plans for paying for the rail system will not fall on deaf ears.

- The position on infrastructure improvements and the rail system is and official stance of the American Centrist Party-

Government Leading Us to Second American Revolution?

nospam@example.com (William Ritter) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:50:15 -0400

On Wednesday 3/18 the Federal Reserve printed 1 TRILLION dollars. Let me say that again: 1 TRILLION, with a "T", dollars. The worst part is is that it was covered up by the AIG bonus story so the American people were left in the dark.

Today, 3/20, the projected deficit for 2010 is reported to be about 2.6 TRILLION DOLLARS! The deficit is projected to consume 12% of our GDP, Gross Domestic Product. For those who don't know what GDP is it is basically the income of the United States. Twelve percent is not a small number (this is the largest deficit since WWII). Imagine 12% of your income dedicated to paying off your debt. The consequences for this is that other places within your budget will have to take a cut. What would you choose? Food? College fund? Travel expenses (not just leisure)?

The federal government is out of control and it has to be stopped. No longer is there the value thrift nor the principle of living within your means. In order to restore fiscal responsibility there must be a change. If the current trend continues, I fear that we may take the revolutionary France approach and people will start yelling "Off With Their Heads!" Many may think that might not happen but if you look back at history, you can see parallels to public sentiment now and French sentiment before the French Revolution.

President Obama promised us change...I'm still waiting. And for all our sakes he better make a decision because pretty words doesn't cut it anymore.

(You can find this post at the ACP Forum under the "Fiscal Responsibility Action Group")

Is Isolationism the only choice?

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:36:08 -0500

It is time for America to reindustrialize. I am tired of hearing of all this stuff about not upsetting our trading partners and the world. We need to put Americans to work, we need to be able to have a strong manufactuing backbone to produce goods. We need not free trade but fair trade. We need to revaluate what matters most here in America cheap goods made overseas by workers in substandard conditions or keeping food on the tables of American families and roofs over their heads. Isolationism is not the answer but having an economic trade policy that is PRO AMERICAN is. The other nations of the world can complain and moan all they want to but at the end of the day are they going to support American kids in college? Are they going to pay for the dentist bills for braces? Are they going to pay for the roofs over our fellow citizens head and ours....NO. We need to trade with other nations but not at the expense of American jobs and economic security which we have been doing for far too long.

--I found this post at http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/2/2/144954/3747. The poster makes good points.

Is isolationism the only choice?
by (5.00 / 5) (#20)esmense on Mon Feb 02, 2009 at 03:25:58 PM EST

Let's be clear -- pursuing trade in the way we have over the last 30 years has not worked as optimistically predicted. Over those 30 years we have lost significant productive capacity, seen real wages stagnate and decline, and seen the once mighty American consumer market -- on which much of the world depends -- increasingly supported by little more than easy and questionable credit. As consumers, we are tapped out. And that isn't just bad for Americans, its bad for every single one of our trading partners.

I live in the most trade dependent state in the nation, Washington. So I certainly am not against trade. BUT I've also had a front seat to some of the problems created by trade policies that tolerate protectionism on the part of other countries while insisting their products get a free ride here. When we clear cut our forests to send our raw timber to countries that refuse to allow us to sell finished wood products into their market -- destroying good paying jobs and whole communities in the process -- we certainly are not being "isolationist," but are we being smart?

When our apple producers spend more than a quarter of a century trying to get even the most tiny, restricted amount of their product into the Japanese market, prevented from doing so by the most transparent and absurd regulations and excuses, does anyone suggest that JAPAN is being "isolationist," endangering the world and free trade?

Well, maybe they should. Because such behavior on the part of our trading partners has harmed us, and in the process, inevitably harmed them and everyone else.

I don't know if Buy American is a solution to any of this. I doubt that it is. But I do think that we need to wake our trading partners up to the fact that SOME effort to restore our productive capacity and get our workers and consumers back on their feet is required -- not just for our benefit, but for the rest of the world's.

House Democrat pushing for end to Presidential term limits

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:30:09 -0500

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-hj5/show. This bill being proposed would repeal the 22nd amendment of the Constitution eliminating term limits for the President of the United States. Really, are people that desperate that we want to abandon democracy as we have it now and go to an imperial presidency? Our governmental system was designed so that no one person or group could take sole power and rule the United States. That makes sense while what is being proposed is insane!!

Now I can understand the thinking that the government is broken and needs to be fixed, because it does. But that should not include eliminating Presidential term limits. Democracy only works when we have MANY LEADERS, MANY OFFICIALS who desire public service and put the public good ahead of any thing else. That is not happening now which is why people are frustrated. That is why we need a new generation or movement of leaders to recommit themselves to striving for the good of America, short term and long. This will take time and it will first and foremost take developing average Americans to want to work in public service as true public servants. We the People must get involved because for decades we have been looking to Washington for leadership when for decades they have provided little to none.

NATHAN: First media bias ...now government censorship?

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:31:23 -0500

New OpEd by Alan Nathan, the Agressive Centrist and host of the BattleLine radio show.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/28/first-media-bias/

Alan Nathan OpEd on Pivotal Facts missed in Presidential Debate

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:36:52 -0400

Check out the new OpEd by the Militant Moderate, Alan Nathan in the Washington Times

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/17/presidential-debates/

New Column by Alan Nathan in the Washington Times

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:16:06 -0400

New op ed column by Alan Nathan in the Washington Times http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/25/vapid-liberalism/

Volunteerism & National Service Now in Vogue in Politics

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:28:09 -0400

Last night a fitting tribute to 9/11/01 occurred. There was a candidate’s forum for Barack Obama and John McCain on volunteerism and national service. Both candidates put forth fine points and it is refreshing and shows a change in America and American politics when national service is coming to forefront. Once again the major candidates seem to take a page from the American Centrist Party. The American Centrist Party was established with supporting volunteerism as a main principle because the American Centrist Party cares about improving our communities, states and nation. By each of us getting involved when we can and doing what we can in our communities we will make America a better nation. The ACP has had planks in its platform principles stating many ways to encourage volunteerism in America and to help mentor our young people in becoming fine upstanding citizens. It is great to see a core principle of the American Centrist Party gaining hopefully lasting attention and more importantly action in the public eye. Check out http://americancentristparty.net/platform%20principles/Volunteerism%20and%20National%20Service.htm for the full details.

The Slippery Slope of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:29:53 -0400

So it looks like the government is getting into the mortgage business with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The government is going to be helping to essentially subsidize Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and their losses. While this is a good temporary fix the government does not need to be involved in this for the long term as it has other issues to work on. It is important for the mortgage giants to be held up held as they play a large role in the overall economy and housing industry. However, for the government to be involved on a permanent basis this can be a slippery slope. Industry and Business of any kind need to be free of unnecessary government involvement to be able to compete in a capitalistic society. That doesn’t mean any regulation or government involvement at crucial times; it just means balanced involvement on a case by case. Issue by issue basis. The government helped this housing crisis to happen by being lax on regulation on bad housing mortgages which helped to inflate the economy in recent years. Now the devil wants his due and is due is foreclosures and furthering debt and credit crisis. While this is a necessary fix right now there needs to be timelines in place and a plan for the federal government to back out of this when solvency and stability are returned. Our hard earned tax dollars are better spent improving education, trade, energy and economic opportunities so all Americans can have the money one day to afford a home without having to turn to a bad mortgage deal.

Congressional Failure

nospam@example.com (William Ritter) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:23:12 -0400

The legislative branch has only one purpose: to create legislation to better the country. But even this simple task is botched in their attempts to run the country for themselves. To them, the belief in checks and balances is nothing but a phrase used by corrupt politicians in order to solidify their own power.
They say that if they are elected they will make things better for America; that through them the people’s problems will be solved. Come on folks, you’re Americans, you’re smart people, do you believe they have your best interests in mind? The only interest they have is achieving political power.
But in the grand scheme of politics, a politician’s beliefs change and they are also turned by their peers. This is common practice in Washington. Politicians use their influence to help their colleague’s pet projects and in return those people will help that politician. This is a good way corruption spreads. But many people see this and try to do something but they are drowned in a sea of political pressure.
There has been so much bureaucracy and corruption that it makes one want to vomit. But there is a way to stop this. First and foremost, we must get rid of the dead wood that is piling up at Capitol Hill. All of these politicians just sit around and become complacent because they have been in office for so long. It is time to clean house and throw out all of these fools who use taxpayer money to cheat on their wives and fool around with their secretaries. It is time to bring new life to Congress and send mediocrity to hell.
Second, we need to elect officials who will not cave in to their party’s pressures. There have been many instances where congressmen and senators want to express their personal views in order to push legislation a certain way but the party leaders, in all their wisdom, trample these attempts by using threats of no reelection funding and other prized things needed for a politician’s continued existence. We need politicians who will stand up for what they believe in and not just “go with the flow” of the mainstream ideological current.
It also becomes clear that if the Constitution gives clear parameters on the system of checks and balances why does it only give term limits to the president of the United States? Many argue that it is set up that way to prevent a president becoming a despot. But the Constitution puts most of the decision-making power into the hands of Congress. Congressmen and senators have no term limits and many senators and congressmen have been in their positions for decades. But it does not stop with Congress because the Supreme Court justices serve for life. We are so paranoid that a president will become a tyrant, we forget that Congress and the Supreme Court as a whole can be equally, if not more, despotic than a president. All major forms of legislation pass through the House and the Senate; they decide if the bill will continue on the path to become a law and it is with this power that they can control the country.
In order to counter this trend we must elect new congressmen and senators and not be complacent with constantly electing the incumbents. If we get complacent, then they get complacent and complacency is not what this country needs.
I have also come to realize that the politicians no longer care about the interests of the American people. As we have seen time and again, through irresponsible compromises and pork-barrel legislation that the politicians are in it for themselves and for the special interests that get them elected. It is hard to tell how many snakes there are in Congress, but from the looks of things we can tell there are quite a few.

Reforming Washington and Its Spending

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:26:04 -0400

New post by Maryland ACP Chair and potential 2012 ACP Congressional Candidate, Will Ritter

Reforming Washington and Its Spending

This country is facing a deficit in the trillions of dollars. We as Americans should be outraged by the inefficiencies of the fat cats in Washington and how they are bankrupting America. The American people need to realize that the power to change this lies within themselves. The people, however, cannot do this by themselves. There has to be politicians in Washington who are outraged by the continuous spending on pork barrel legislation. We need a plan and I think that I have just the one.

This is a ten point plan that has to be adopted in its entirety if we are to turn things around. First, we need to ban congressmen, senators, and White House officials from lobbying for five years after they leave their positions. Second, freeze the pay of congressmen, senators, and White House officials until the federal budget is balanced. This includes cost-of-living adjustments. Third, force political candidates to immediately scan and post all campaign contributions on their campaign websites. Failure to do so results in criminal penalties. Fourth, we need to pass term limits, since the House of Representatives authorizes the federal spending, limit House members to three terms. Next, make Congress and every Washington bureaucracy undergo an independent, professional audit, line by line, program by program every four years. Then, we pass a constitutional amendment requiring Washington to balance the budget every year except when Congress passes a resolution declaring a national emergency. Also, we need to create a federal rainy-day fund that would set aside one-half of one percent of all tax receipts each year for national, state, and local emergencies. We then need to reenact pay-as-you-go rules that would require Congress to offset new spending programs and tax cuts with spending cuts from other programs. We need to reinstitute congressional spending caps that would force congressmen or senators to live within their previous spending projections. These caps will not be broken unless Congress passed a separate resolution declaring a national emergency as described previously. A new American tax code needs to be passed that is written by a bipartisan panel of budget experts instead of the lobbyist groups who regularly carve out special-interest deductions and greatly simplify the tax system.[1]

This is the plan that will help America get back on its feet and turn our economy and spending around. Matters of national security have to trump all other concerns. But we cannot let our government drift under the spell of a spending frenzy, fueled by opportunists and profiteers.

If we are to fight the war on terrorism from beginning to end we need money. We need responsible leadership that is willing to sit at the big boy’s table and get things done. But, I am going to play Nostradamus and predict that this plan will have trouble coming together. It will have trouble because of the simple fact that Congress doesn’t want change; it does not want to be proven wrong or inferior. These fat cats need to swallow their pride and do what is necessary for the well-being of this country.

If no one wants any part of this plan that just goes to show you that none of these politicians are willing to do what it takes to put this country back on course. There has been so much talk about being tough on spending and wanting reform that eventually everyone will stop listening.

Along with this plan there needs to be a change in the way Americans vote. We need officials who will are willing to put the priorities of the country before the priorities of their political party and ideology. Only then can America get back on its path towards greatness. The politics of Washington has become so corrupted and short-sighted that it is impossible to elect new officials. The American people are too content with the situation in the Capitol and are willing to keep these complacent fools in their high office. We as a whole must open our eyes and see the situation that is forming in Washington. If we are to stay and exceed our position in the world we as a people must stop just laying back and watch as the leadership continues to lead us down the wrong path with their incompetence. They are fat and sassy and should be removed from their high office but it is the initiative of the American people that will bring about this change.

[1] This ten point plan was taken from Joe Scarborough’s book Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day pp.180-181

New Alan Nathan Column in Washington Times

nospam@example.com (Andrew Evans) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:26:53 -0400

This is a very interesting op ed by Alan Nathan in the Washington Times. It shows the just how dysfunctional Washington has become when it comes to the energy crisis.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/13/the-democrats-energy-socialism/