Law Professor Mark Osler says in this op-ed that one-party regions of the United States invariably develop bad government. It is published in the Waco Tribune, and seems aimed for a Texas audience. He uses Detroit as an example.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Two party government doesn’t do much better.
What is 2014 *good* government —
a govt that has 100 percent tax rates and dictates what every body is doing 24/7 ???
Think the control freak agendas of the top Donkeys and Elephants.
Brandon Magoon:
I don’t know if we can honestly call the United States a “Two Party System.”
On some social issues, yes, there probably is a slight difference, but economically I don’t see any difference toward the common people when there is a change in party control of Congress.
I think the only time Americans witnessed a change was right after the 1932 elections, when the Democrats sweep Congress and forever changed the concept that government does have a role in coming to the aid of the masses when the private sector cannot or will not.
I suppose we would have to have another (God forbid) world-wide Depression, to see how the Democratic and Republican parties would respond. Most likely they would respond the same way as they did before – depending on what the Democratic party was advocating as the answer for such a Depression.
Mark is right, Republicans use the label of less government, but then get elected and continue to grow government and the debt. We really just have one big government party with a Democratic wing and Republican wing. All this big government party does is fight over who will drive us over the financial cliff.
I’m glad to see that Top Two passed which opens up primaries across all party lines in the primary and also guarantees a simple majority for the final winner.
In the primary, a third party can still go on to the runoff with a 2nd place plurality. So a third party or independent can randomly win because of the split-vote problem.
It’s so sad to see people wasting time making noise over an incremental improvement in elections. Nobody wants to hang out with dividers who want to fight over anything.
I think Top Two, and the anti-Top Two crowd, will drive more people out of those fiefdom dictatorships known as political parties and into the independents and help encourage more splintering of the established political parties and increase coalition building.
Top Two is helping democracy transcend to a new higher level in election law.
David:
Do you honestly believe our government (i.e. country) is going to go over the proverbial financial cliff?
We’ve heard this argument for decades.
As long as there is paper to print money, and our nation maintains its strength, militarily, technologically, and industrially, I hardly think we will ever go over some financial cliff.
Okay, someday a loaf of bread may go (due to greed)to $10 per loaf, there will always be $10 (printed by the government) in the pocket of the average American to buy it.
I’m more concerned about a government telling me “how” I can eat my loaf of bread – not whether or not I have the money to buy it.