Parties, Politics and Power

By Alvin Glaser

Corporations and our citizens must realize that the government is a friend, not an enemy. Our government has played a leading role in the growth of the nation's economy, as well as the creation of infrastructure that is a fundamental support of commerce and the search for ways "to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."John Jay in Federalist #2 write, "Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is usually undeniable, that whatever or however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights, in order to vest it with requisite powers."The question Al Glaser raises throughout is whether, as Lincoln so aptly put it in 1863, we are to have a "government of the people, by the people, for the people," or, as President Rutherford B. Hayes angrily stated sixteen years later, "This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people no longer. It is a government of corporations, by corporations and for corporations." The successes and failures of a peoples' government, as compared to a corporate- controlled government, the author notes, have been at the center of an ongoing struggle since the nation's founding. It has once again reached the zenith. Glaser not only raises the question, but also gives some answers as to whether we are to have a government in this country that is responsive to the will of the majority or to a small, wealthy minority. He discusses the roles that have been and are being played by the three branches of government-the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judiciary-and how they have changed over the years. He also examines how the roles of parties, politics, the economy, lobbying, the media, religion, immigration, and culture are once again changing the political landscape-as well as our position as the world's superpower and policeman. The greatest threat government "of the People" faces today, in an era of staggering and widening economic inequality, is the ability of a tiny number of affluent individuals, and associated interest groups and corporations to subvert the democratic process by spending unlimited amounts of money to influence elections at every level of government and make our legislators subservient to their will, rather than the will of the people. This brings us perilously closer to a plutocracy than a democracy.This is not how we have grown and prospered in the past. Poll after poll shows the public favors shared sacrifice, higher taxes for the disproportionately wealthy, restraint and fairness on Medicare,Medicaid and Social Security reductions, maintenance of essential health and welfare programs, and a continuation of unemployment insurance. The economic disaster engineered by the financial service monoliths has provided a golden opportunity for the few to insist on sacrifice by the many in the name of "austerity" and "fiscal responsibility." Once again we hear the discredited theories of "trickle down" economics, minimal or no regulation of anything and everything, and unconditional resistance to addressing our very real fiscal problems through more equitable taxation. How and why we arrived at this crisis through the interplay of social and economic forces in the course of our history is the central focus of PARTIES, POLITICS AND POWER. It encourages the reader to look back to our Founding Fathers as a guide to what we should do and how we should do it. Since an understanding of our history is so important to seeing the reality of today and looking forward to tomorrow, this book aims to encourage readers to do just that--be informed and energized by the lessons of our history and summon the resolve to work for the brighter future and social justice this country deserves.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1475226128
• ISBN13: 9781475226126
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 612 Pages
• Weight: 2.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.4" x 6.0"