Declaration of Independents

Who by definition don't get to vote in primaries unless, like Mississippi, they have an open primary.

Just some quick summary points and a link to Tom Egan's column.

The greatest source of anger towards Congress by most people is the gridlock, partisanship, and failure to act upon the needs of the country.

• A livable wage creates both consumers and takes workers out of world of the government safety net.  No one should work 60 hours and a week and have insufficient income for the basics of life.
• Immigration is an issue in need of a change in policies which have not been working for decades.  
• Healthcare is an issue that still needs refinement, but not a return to the good old days when health care spending was rising at an unsustainable rate while the uninsured went untreated.  
• Our infrastructure needs maintenance and replacement, the funding does not exist. 
• Climate change needs to be addressed.  A failure to do so will lead to unknown circumstances which may occur anyway, but we need to try. 
• Entitlement funds will run out of money at various times and need to be stabilized, not privatized, and that needs to be debated and sold to the American people by both parties.  
• The budget deficit needs a path to a surplus at full employment.  
• And fraud in Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, and Taxes needs to be ferreted out.  I don't for a minute believe that all these new found political organizations on the left and the right are not evading the tax law in some cases.
• The ability to obtain guns and certain types of guns need some effective controls such as background checks, a limit to automatic weapons, and a cessation of purchases flowing from easy states to more difficult states.

Independents now make up 42% of the population.  They are not represented by partisan's of either side as by definition they see value in part's of both parties's predilections.  They value the safety net and military defense.  They will pay a fair rate in taxation, but understand the need for a cap on taxation.  They want fiscal prudence on the bottom line.  They want to be treated fairly by the system and they want the system to work efficiently.

They disagree vehemently with the Tea Party and now are unrepresented by the Republican's who are slavishly adhering to Tea Party advocacy's  to avoid and win primary challenges.  But the Democrats have swung to the left on certain issues (notably a willingness to address the solvency of entitlements).

There is no exact correct policy solution for any of the issues I laid out above.  That is why a legislature meets every year, to makes adjustments and improve policies that need improvement.  And that is why issues need to be debated.  Not buried in disagreement.

Link to Tom Egan column