Gary Nation: Look outside the 2 major parties for solutions. Here's what I would do.
I’m Gary Nation, and I’m the American Constitution Party of Colorado’s candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, the seat currently held by Joe Neguse.
I agreed to run, even though our district is rated “safely Democrat” by pollsters, for those voters looking for an alternative or the opportunity to essentially vote none of the above.
I believe there’s a need to look outside the current two-party system if you want truly representative government. I came around to this view after academic studies, such as that of Martin Gilens of Princeton in 2014, showed it is not public support that gets laws passed; rather it is the wealthiest of us, and corporate lobbyists, who get what they want.
Gilens looked at about 1,800 issues over the three decades of the 1980s, '90s and 2000s, and found those pushed by the wealthy and lobbyists were adopted about 70% of the time, while those supported by the majority of voters just 30% of the time. But those 30% having grassroots support only got adopted if the financial elites or big corporations were also in favor.
Most disturbing was that not a single majority-supported issue was adopted without the backing of the politically connected or financially privileged. Is it any wonder that wealth is more concentrated at the top than at any time in recent history, while the working class has had stagnant income for decades when adjusted for inflation?
It’s time to look beyond the major parties and resist viewing support for the Constitution through a left vs. right lens. The underlying principle of our Constitution is one of self-determination while protecting the individual/minority: ideals most of us share. Among the many amendments to the Constitution over the years were the prohibition on slavery and the national extension of voting rights to former slaves, women, and most recently younger adults.
To my mind, the abandonment of the constitutional amendment route after the failure of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s has been a mistake. An actual amendment carries more weight, and greater promise of permanence, than a Supreme Court decision, as witnessed by the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, with the referral of the issue back to the individual states.
I personally believe that if the two major parties truly wanted to bring the country back together, a Grand Compromise could be reached, perhaps a package of constitutional amendments dealing with issues like immigration, citizenship, the definition of marriage, and even abortion, where both sides can give something to get something.
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If elected, I will promote such a constitutional solution, and support the following:
Minimize corruption by keeping federal government as small and lean as possible, reducing incentives for graft.
Repeal the 16th Amendment, the national income tax, thus eliminating exemptions and tax credits which disproportionately go to the wealthy.
Adopt a constitutional amendment establishing a national financial transactions tax, essentially a broad national sales tax [on goods and services]
Institute a national usury law prohibiting banks offering credit cards with exorbitant interest rates that snare people, especially the poor and young, into debt traps they cannot escape.
Require banks to set minimum personal savings account interest rates to a benchmark such as the 5-year government bond.
Mandate national energy independence, removing barriers to oil and gas production until such time as there is sufficient alternative energy capacity; and afterwards maintaining sufficient production necessary for national security.
Secure the border, reducing drug deaths and ensuring terrorists or those with criminal records are not allowed into the country while simultaneously seeking a constitutional amendment compromise on the citizenship issue of those now young adults brought here illegally at a young age.
Allow student debt to be discharged in bankruptcy, like every other debt can.
Return nuclear power to the energy mix, a clean base-load power source entailing less environmental degradation than the mining associated with solar panels and batteries, for instance.
Thanks for your consideration.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Gary Nation, running for Colorado CD2: If elected, I will do this
