The parties are falling apart!

The Democrat Party is going through an internal battle that will give historians and political pundits something to pontificate about for the next generation. Even one of the main institutional supporters of the Democrat party are tearing themselves apart as they fight amongst themselves about whom to support and how to support them.

These institutions, known as unions, have not looked out for the interest of their members for years. They have looked out for the interest of their leadership and their survival. Of course, they throw their members a bone every now and then, but there is usually no real meat on that bone.

Unions were once bastions of racism and sexism. Similar to, if not worse than, the general society. Then, miraculously, when it was in their best interest to promote equality for all, they did so (as it increased the pool of dues paying members and thus, their pocketbooks and coffers). For some time after that they were viewed as one of the protectors of civil rights for all - both men and women of all races.

Now, the true nature of the Democrats is coming out and the unions are right there to highlight it. The party that always looks out for the people of this great nation are now fighting over who the people are that they represent. Is it the popular vote or the will of the back room leadership? Is it their long term male supporters or their female supporters? Is it their white members or their minority members? The party is hitting a schism that may be growing pains, but unfortunately appears to be something much more sinister.

At the same time, the Democrat Party rules are so convoluted that you need a panel of lawyers to decode them for use. The rules change so that the Party bosses, not the people can have the final say. That alone suggests that the Party does not trust the will of the people because they are too ignorant (or busy trying to make ends meet and put food on the table) to make the right choices.

On the other hand, we have the Republican Party and their historic allegiance with big business. Lately it seems that the Republican Party has not seen a corporate welfare piece of legislation that it did not like. On the other hand, the citizens must fend for themselves and exercise their right to succeed in this land of the free and home of the brave.

I am not a big supporter of welfare for businesses or individuals. If you need a subsidy - work for it. Oh, then it wouldn't be a subsidy, it would be something that you earned for the value that you gave. Hand outs are just that - handed from the taxpayers of America to those who are obviously not creating value.

We give handouts to businesses and industries that can't or won't compete. The unions usually oppose these handouts unless it helps their members - think the Chrysler bailout of the 1980s (this government welfare kept 1000s of union members working [a good thing] to pay dues to their overseer and benefactor [the union] so that it could fight another day).

Both parties are wrong. What happened to candidates stating their position on the issues and citizens voting based on this? Years ago it was common to hear an old saying that there are two things that you don't talk about - religion and politics.

Well, quite frankly, that is all that there is to talk about lately - at least if you watch CNN or read your local paper. There is of course the latest disaster. This week we get quite a few - cyclones in Myanmar; earthquakes in China; tornadoes, flash floods and brush fires in the US. Even these stories take on a political rather than a humanitarian flavor.

If you are like me, you can't wait for November 5th. The endless campaigning will be over. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain will be our 44th President. And some one (either one of them or Ralph Nader) will start campaigning for 2012.