The corporate takeover of government and the new freedom of the ultra-rich to buy our elections has resulted in the paralysis of government.

The Congress of the United States is now paralyzed by Tea Party representatives. Their anti- government position violates their Congressional oath of office. You cannot ‘support and defend’ the Constitution by hating and obstructing the government that it established to do the people’s business. The Department of Justice should find a legal way to remove Tea Party members from the Congress and deprive them of all Congressional benefits. Our government, any government has a right to protect itself from abuse.

But this paralysis is only one symptom of a far greater problem. Throughout our history different forces have been able to organize and make their needs known, eventually resulting in changing government policy. But the takeover of our government and both parties by wealthy corporations and individuals has ended this dialogue. We are unable to solve our national problems. In spite of the huge loss of property and life to the violence of climate change, only the EPA opposes the poisonous fumes of old coal plants, which are adding to global warming.

We know that we must end the general use of fossil fuels to slow global warming. But that industry has so confused the majority of Americans by their anti-science advertising that the sense of urgency we had decades ago has been converted to acceptance of our ongoing destruction. Even during the killer storm Sandy, fossil advertising was promoting the virtues of coal. Billions of dollars in property and hundreds of lives were lost in an outstanding example of reckless endangerment.

If our government cannot protect us from the increasing violence of climate change, or we cannot do our national share of reducing greenhouse gasses, if we cannot develop a plan to develop alternative energy, if we cannot remodel our infrastructure into a hardened system that can withstand climate violence, then we must face the fact that our nation has lost the ability to defend itself against this violent attack.

There is no organized opposition to the forces of wealth. There is no national group to fight for those who suffered from bad mortgages, or to demand policy changes to stop the job drain caused by the vicious free trade agreements. There is no group to demand that our children and youth get all of the services they need to flourish as they develop. No voice is demanding that we invest in our urgently needed national infrastructure rather than in the Pentagon’s high-tech, far-reaching war against a non-existent enemy.

The major parties are serving different wealthy constituencies. The result is that the peoples’ needs are neglected, that America’s future is neglected, that we still tolerate subsidies to 20th Century fossil fuels when we know that climate change will bring even more violence and deprivation to the world our children must live in.

We need a third party that will fight for Americas children and their future. Five issues that urgently need a champion are:

1. End corruption in government. We do not care about the personal lives of our representatives, we care greatly that their campaigns are publicly financed and that they never receive any gifts of any kind from anyone except immediate family. And we care that they support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that protect our liberties, and nullify all laws that would weaken them.

2. End the job, technology and business drain of free trade. These corporate trade rules have cost the U.S. millions of jobs. We need new trade rules negotiated by representatives of labor, the environment and consumers. We need a national manufacturing policy to assure that in an uncertain world, we do not rely on foreign nations to supply the necessities of our lives.

3. Establish an Energy Transition Agency (ETA). It is urgent that our nation get serious about dealing with the damage and death of Climate change. We need an agency, like the War Product Board of W.W.II, empowered to supervise the smooth transition from fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives. The ETA would also assist fossil fuel employees to train for jobs in the wind and solar industries and support projects to resist the climate violence we cannot prevent.

4. Empower the Department of Health and Welfare to assure the best possible development and education of every child in America. It is intolerable that by international standards our children are being left behind. If we do not encourage their development and creativity, we are assuring a secondary future for the United States.

5. Create a new infrastructure agency for our nation. We cannot prosper as a nation with bumpy roads, broken bridges and slow trains. The future of our nation demands that we improve every aspect of our infrastructure for an uncertain future and the increasing violence of climate change.

By loudly representing these principles and electing representatives where possible, the Third Party can change the stagnant dialogue in our nation. The popularity of our cause will appeal to new people running for seats in the Congress. Finally, these efforts will help to relieve the suffocating blanket of money and corruption that now threatens our national life.

Just remember, the 3rd rail, while dangerous, is also the source of all rail power.

©2012 Peter G Cohen

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About author Peter G Cohen was a freshman at U of Chicago when Fermi developed the chain reaction in the stadium. He was on a troopship bound for the invasion of Japan when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He designed graphic materials for the SANE Ban the Bomb campaign of the 1950s. In 1968 he was an independent peace candidate for representative in Congress for the Easton-Allentown area of PA. In 1969-’70 he was the Director of the New Democratic Coalition of Pennsylvania, which helped to nominate McGovern as the Democratic candidate. He is the author of the website Peter G Cohen was a freshman at U of Chicago when Fermi developed the chain reaction in the stadium. He was on a troopship bound for the invasion of Japan when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He designed graphic materials for the SANE Ban the Bomb campaign of the 1950s. In 1968 he was an independent peace candidate for representative in Congress for the Easton-Allentown area of PA. In 1969-’70 he was the Director of the New Democratic Coalition of Pennsylvania, which helped to nominate McGovern as the Democratic candidate. He is the author of the website nukefreeworld.com Peter now lives in Santa Barbara, where he can be reached at aerie2@verizon.net