Here’s a head-scratcher for you: Official voter registration records in at least 29 states show significant numbers of people registering to vote as political Independents, or who decline to declare a political party affiliation. Opinion polls, at least those of the Gallup organization, consistently list three political groups, Republicans, Democrats and political Independents, responding to their survey questions. Nightly news—on all stations and/or channels, periodicals and newspapers speak and write…

Well, you might say, it’s to make a choice, decide between alternatives, and you’d beright.To elect someone, or something, is to demonstrate a preference. In politics, the significance of elections is to determine just who the majority (voting) prefers to lead government for a set period of time. “Who” in our political system, generally means which political party. Does this mean that whichever party gets the most votes wins, the…

Politics & Government Today: Are They Really As Bad As It Looks? Yeah, unfortunately, it does seem to most (if not necessarily to the politicians) to be as bad as it looks.  Somewhere along the line, the purpose of government has gotten sidetracked. Our politicians now focus not on what to govern but ideologically how to govern. The result, as we see, is not pretty. Two experienced Congressional watchdogs believe…

   The Income Tax turned one hundred this year!  However, Hoopla over this milestone, as one writer recently put it, was not expected!             When it comes to paying taxes, few are eager. Still, we all—even if grudgingly— recognize that taxes are the price of government (I mailed my contribution earlier this week). Some people do look forward to tax time, those who work in the Tax Return preparation industry….

 Over the past five decades we’ve seen our major national political campaigns emphasize more the individual candidate than the party platform. Consensus is that this really got rolling with the 1960 Kennedy presidential campaign. Historian James MacGregor Burns has made this the subject of his 2006 book Running Alone, Presidential Leadership, JFK to Bush II. It may not be immediately obvious, but this has significant implications for both our democracy…

A what? By who? From time to time I’m inclined to draft so-called opinion pieces, essays and other short articles on and around the apparent state of frustration of the American public with the results of our politics and, consequently government, and the rise of political Independents this has occasioned.  Infrequently, I submit such materials for publication.  Invariably it’s in vain. But I anticipate this.  I never ask the question…

The Vote: So, what’s it worth today?  Just how important is democracy to our republic? Remember the old saying about Love & marriage: you can’t have one without the other. Well, by definition, that should apply here: without political democracy, don’t expect a republic. But what’s the reality of our democracy, today? Does it really work? If so, for whom? The vote may express the will of the people, but…

  What’s an assault weapon?  For purposes of US gun laws and gun politics, an assault weapon is a semi-automatic firearm possessing certain features similar to those of military firearms. Semi-automatics fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled. They have a detachable magazine, some capable of holding fifty (50) rounds. Most assault weapons are rifles, but some are pistols or shotguns. There are both state and federal regulations…

Fiscal Cliff or Cliff-Hanger?  A careful look at what’s playing out in D.C. presently challenges the semantics being used to describe the potential consequences to the American public. I’m referring, of course, to the looming end of the Bush “temporary” tax cuts and other provisional tax reduction measures related to the recent economic downturn combined with the likelihood of mandated spending reductions, the result of an inability of Congress and…

I would like to believe that overall the televised presidential debates are helpful for America’s voters. For some, no doubt they are. But for many, that’s questionable. As one acquaintance put it following the first debate,”both acted like big immature babies.”  At best, that’s hardly “presidential.”                 The obvious purpose of the debates is, or should be, to inform and emphasize the differences in the candidates’ approaches to governing; specifics…