Ideological Balance: Third Parties and the New Third Way

This morning I am going to resume my series on the potential for a Third Party to successfully make its way into American politics. Today's post is going to be about the ideology of a successful Third Party, and depending on how long-winded I get, this topic might bleed into a future post. My apologies in advance if that happens. One other prefatory note: today will only be about domestic policy. Foreign policy warrants its own post.

The hallmarks of a successful Third Party domestic policy platform would be a dedication to social progress with responsible, pro-growth free market economics. It is my contention that most people in the United States believe in equal rights and equal protection. I would simultaneously contend that most people believe that free markets and reasonably low taxes are good for the economy, and that the country benefits when the economy succeeds. Now having said all of this, I also think that on specific issues, people buy into hideous lies, especially on economic policy. Some people, otherwise rational, are vehemently opposed to global free trade. Still others, again otherwise rational, think that taxing corporations with almost punitive rates is good for the "average person. Despite these and other myths, I still think a Third Party, through education, can enter the fray and advocate sound economic policy and fair social policy. The following would be a summation of this concept.

Economic Policy

1. Rigorous Adherence to Balanced Budgets.

2. Tax Reduction and Tax Code Simplification.

3. Tort Reform and Judicial Reform.

4. Regulatory Reduction and Streamlined Government.

5. Unification of Business Regulation, Eliminating State Involvement.

6. Reform of Federal Labor Law.

Social Policy

1. Conservationist Environmental Policy (but rejecting economically devastating proposals like Kyoto).

2. Equal Rights & Equal Protection.

3. An Individualist Stance on Abortion (Something not as radical or venomous as National Right to Life OR NARAL, but a more reasonable and centrist stance, perhaps favoring states rights in many respects).

4. Belief in a 100% Overhaul of America's Primary and Secondary Educational Systems.

5. Moderate, realistic view on Immigration (something in between Amnesty and "Shoot 'em when they cross the border.")

Hybrid Issues

1. Health Care. The emergent Third Party must take a radical stand on health care reform, that wholly rejects the status quo, but that has some better solution than low-quality and horrendously expensive socialized medicine. More on the details of this to come.

2. Reform of the American entitlement system. With the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds holding future liabilities in excess of $60 Trillion, a Third Party serious about helping America remain the world's superpower and stave off imminent decline will tackle this issue with bravery and boldness, and I believe the American electorate will reward the effort.

In a future series, I will go into more extensive detail about what all of these policies would actually look like, but I wanted to lay out a framework for that discussion here. I look forward to reading people's comments about what I have written today, and I hope everybody will check back soon for a discussion of what an Emergent Third Party's foreign policy platform would look like.