The American Independence Movement

By Will Hart

Have you wondered why we even bother to hold elections? Why not just let the incumbents, who get re-elected anyway, just remain in office and save tens of millions of dollars spent on this needless display of "democratic window dressing"?

We seem to get the same results regardless of the party that is elected to the White House or that holds the majority in Congress.

The two party system is, in fact, broken beyond repair and our politicians know it. We the people are also painfully aware that Washington D.C., is the home of gridlock as in a brain-dead, totally dysfunctional institution.

Did the Republic die and wither away when they shut the government down? No it did not.

Part of the reason for this state of affairs is that our cynical cadre of professional politicos is dedicated not to creating effective social policy, but to ensuring that the established (dis)order remains intact.

Now, what would happen if our archaic two-party, all too predictable beltway fandango, were suddenly challenged by a fresh vision and a burst of new energy? That can only happen if a truly independent, third-party with a radical platform entered the fray in 2016. We will call this as yet fictional party, the American Independence Movement (AIM).

Instead of pretending like it presented an alternative, but without offering anything substantive; it will present a bold platform based upon a no-holds-barred analysis of our current situation, how we got here and how we can get out and create a vastly different future.

First, the past 100 years has seen several interest groups seize: 1) the economic and financial reins of the country and 2) create the military-industrial complex.

The former was accomplished when a group, comprised of America's richest men met in secret to formulate the Federal Reserve System, which they managed to get enacted by Congress in 1913. The Federal Reserve Act was the single most significant piece of legislation passed in the 20^th century.

It not only allowed a consortium of private banks to control interest rates and the money supply, it also permitted these banks to turn a profit by printing money and charging the federal government interest on any debt that it accumulated.

In fact, John F Kennedy was well aware of the real purpose that the FED was created for and he tried to undo the damage that it was doing to the economy by signing Executive Order 11110.

That order turned the creation of money back over to the Treasury Department, thereby, preventing the bankers from profiting. Reinstating JFK's executive order (which Johnson reversed as soon as he took office) would be the first plank on the AIM platform.

Next would be undoing Nixon's executive order, which disconnected the dollar from gold, making it a fiat currency - a feat that tricky-Dick accomplished in 1971. That would return dollar to gold convertibility.

There is no way to regain control of the US economy and financial system without first reforming the Federal Reserve System. The AIM candidate would argue for reforming the Federal Reserve into a European style Central Bank that was entirely a branch of the government, without any confusing dual public-private status.

While the Treasury would control the printing presses, the reformed FED would manage interest rates and the money supply in a purely impartial, objective and non-profit manner as other central banks do. (Like the FED officials claim to do but never actually have done).

For those who are well-aware of the FEDS real history and purpose, the "too big to fail" mandate was directly tied back into the banking controlled FED system, which is basically a fascist economic philosophy, predicated on having taxpayers support failed corporate policies and enterprises.

Let us not forget that JP Morgan was the main architect of the FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM back in 1912.  (Yes, JP Morgan was too big to fail in '08) Following JFK's lead by quickly reinstating his executive order, the elected AIM candidate would then move right on to address Eisenhower's nightmare-come-true, the hydra-headed beast, the out of control 'military-industrial complex'.

Those wise and fiscally conservative baboon's (oh, I mean elephant's) the ever-blustering Republican's got their calculus wrong when Bush II was eating his share of fine White House cuisine (2000-2008). You cannot cut taxes for the rich AND wage two foreign wars without causing the yearly deficit and overall national debt to turn into a biblical-flood of red ink.

To remedy these predictable outcomes, once enthroned in the White House and Congress, AIM would 1) raise taxes on the always whining rich who never tire of complaining about their lot in life and 2) cut defense spending to the equivalent of K-rations to force the 800-lb gorilla down to an effective fighting weight of about 400 lbs.

There is, in fact, no reason for America to be spending 42% of the annual International total spent on defense by all the countries around the globe. Yes, we U.S. taxpayers pony up about twice as much money, 4.5% of GDP, compared to the average of 2.5% spent by the citizens of other advanced countries.

There is so much flab, waste and fraud in the Pentagon-defense contractor system that we could unwind the budget down to the international average level, and actually gain in our defense capabilities via wise management focused on efficiencies and technologies.

In truth, this is not just some pacifist's daydream with boomers hitting the social security payroll every day for the next 15 years- it is a necessity. We have dozens of military bases around the globe that can be closed without in any way compromising our country's defense capabilities.

At this point in our history, with an exploding social security payout and 50 million citizens on food stamps, we cannot afford to plod onward in a business as usual fashion. Raising corporate taxes is as overdue as making the rich pay their fair share.

No truly new economic stimulus can come without a radical decline in our debt levels and only massive cuts in defense combined with rising tax revenues can achieve that end.

The final plank has to be to increase spending on America's sagging infrastructure. In recent years we have been treading the road to ruin already blazed by the Roman Empire. Yes, investing in foreign military adventures while ignoring the deteriorating conditions in Rome.

A truly new vision and fresh start for our country is one that pivots away from a focus on (Superpower) foreign policy and back to repairing what has gone (and is going) wrong on the domestic front. No doubt, the current regime will ignore that 'cry in the wilderness' to embrace the old second term 'leaving his legacy' for history cant.

If we flounder sideways only to face the either/or dilemma of electing another Clinton or Bush III in 2016; then this author proposes that we must, as a nation, declare the Zombie Apocalypse a fact by marching on Washington D.C. and collapsing into a heap like exhausted lemmings...

Will Hart