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The Forward Party (1 Viewer)

Haven’t had the opportunity to read up on his platform with this party but was Yanggang guy before so I’m guessing I’ll will again.  Would be nice to have a party I can support again. 

 
I can get on board with this.  Both major parties pander to the fringes.  Time for something new.  Unfortunately with current campaign finance laws third parties aren't viable except in local elections.

 
I’ll give it a more in-depth review later…I simply hope their approach is specifically limited to state/local level to begin.  I don’t think any 3rd party can truly succeed without first gaining foot at the lower levels

 
Did a quick perusal of the sight - on it's face it seems promising.

Some initial thoughts:

  • Didn't see anything about addressing immigration.  Going to need to see ideas on how to control our borders much better than we already are.
  • "Independent Redistricting Commissions" I'm a little leery of.  "Independent" usually is code for "Packed with Democrats that are Independent in name only"
  • "Civic Juries" also seems like "Find a bunch of Democrats, call them 'Civic' and use their findings to push liberal legislation".  I can easily see how this can be manipulated to get the results you want.
  • I'd need more details on what they think "Accessible and Secure Voting" means.  Whenever I see something like this, it usually means LESS secure voting.

 
UBI is a non starter unless every other welfare program gets eliminated and, the Dept of Technology proposals sole focus is figuring out how to stop 200k illegals from streaming into the country monthly. 
 

Also, nobody has been able to explain to me how ranked choice voting doesn’t make it easier for activists groups to get a preferred candidate on the ballot. 

 
RCV wouldn't have anything to do with "getting on the ballot".  RCV is simply a way to allow voters to express a preference for a third-party candidate without "wasting their vote".
Indeed, and who's to say that a third party couldn't be one that chooses to occupy the moderate middle?

If a third party gains traction because of friendlier voting systems, then it becomes an indictment against our entrenched two-party, first past the post system of elections. 

Voters deserve realistic choices, no matter their ideology.

 
guns, abortion, illegal immigration .... all very important issues for me they don't address and I'm against UBI 

 
I get why a third party would make voting reform a key part of their platform -- you can't have a viable third party as long as we do first-past-the-post elections -- but that's also the sort of issue that like 2% of voters of care about. 

It seems like this party would have more success as the "UBI party."  Make that your big, transformative idea and figure out the rest if and when you get some electoral success.

 
The flip side to alternative voting methods being a low temperature issue is that there isn't a high intensity opposition to it, like we've seen in issues like guns and abortion where a determined minority can obstruct change way beyond its actual numbers.

When voters are exposed to things like RCV and approval voting, they like them. It's an easy win for proponents because no crazies are screaming in dissent.

 
The flip side to alternative voting methods being a low temperature issue is that there isn't a high intensity opposition to it, like we've seen in issues like guns and abortion where a determined minority can obstruct change way beyond its actual numbers.

When voters are exposed to things like RCV and approval voting, they like them. It's an easy win for proponents because no crazies are screaming in dissent.
There's a joke in here about "incumbents are the crazies screaming in dissent" but I'm having trouble grasping the right phrasing...

 
There's a joke in here about "incumbents are the crazies screaming in dissent" but I'm having trouble grasping the right phrasing...
The fact that the Fair Representation Act can't even get out of committee in a Democratic majority House tells us all we need to know about our elected representatives' sense of self-preservation.

 
I was interested until I saw UBI.

I think, eventually UBI is inevitable, but that's a long ways off. Pushing it as one of a handful of main platform issues will mean that this party goes nowhere fast.

There is a metric ton of low-hanging fruit, common sense reforms that can be made to improve our government and our society. Start there. Leave the more radical ideas for a later time IMO.

 
https://www.forwardparty.com/crypto

Oof, don't love this one either.

ETA: My preferred governmental stance on crypto, if it were to have one, would be to ban it. It has minimal utility (excluding black/grey markets), it is a giant energy sink in a time when we need to be reducing our fossil fuel usage and transitioning to alternative energy sources, and it is the home of an endless stream of ponzi schemes, rug pulls, etc. Just ban it. Or ignore it. Either or. Stop legitimizing it.

 
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I can’t see UBI ever being a thing in this country. We cry socialism about programs that are a lot less, well socialist, than UBI.

As for Yang. I want to like him. He’s correct on several fronts. I believe Math is important. I’m not sure this is the thing though. 

 
I'm pretty sure that Yang's message isn't directed at the moderately conservative denizens of FBGs. We're the electorate of the now but we'll be the electorate of the past in a couple of decades.

He's targeting the electorate of tomorrow.

 
I'm pretty sure that Yang's message isn't directed at the moderately conservative denizens of FBGs. We're the electorate of the now but we'll be the electorate of the past in a couple of decades.

He's targeting the electorate of tomorrow.
Exactly. Anyone worried about UBI should know that this is Yang. 

 
Snoopy said:
Wisconsin's motto.

Obama's slogan for his 2nd term.
 Be interesting if they think electing Ron Johnson for another 6 years is moving forward. I'd call it moving downward.

 
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Rich Conway said:
RCV wouldn't have anything to do with "getting on the ballot".  RCV is simply a way to allow voters to express a preference for a third-party candidate without "wasting their vote".
How many third party or independent candidates have won elections where RCV has been implemented?

 
(HULK) said:
I was interested until I saw UBI.

I think, eventually UBI is inevitable, but that's a long ways off. Pushing it as one of a handful of main platform issues will mean that this party goes nowhere fast.

There is a metric ton of low-hanging fruit, common sense reforms that can be made to improve our government and our society. Start there. Leave the more radical ideas for a later time IMO.
This is interesting, because I think I see this exactly the opposite way.  

When I look at the Forward Party's page, I see a bunch of really boring "good government" stuff, like RCV, open primaries, and things like "fact-based governance" and "effective and modern government."  There's a certain type of person who gets motivated to vote over things like term limits and redistricting reform -- that type of person was one of the half dozen folks who voted for Paul Tsongas, and their solution to everything is campaign finance reform.  They represent about 5% of the electorate, and the entire political establishment is united against them because all of these things are a direct threat to incumbency.  It seems to me that it's basically impossible to get a new party off the ground on issues like this.

The other problem that third parties sometimes run into is trying too hard to be "centrist."  The Reform Party was kind of like that at one point.  Again, you can't motivate people to engage in party-building on the back of "we should run government somewhat more efficiently."  You need something that inspires.

My knowledge of the history here might be mistaken, but I was always under the impression that the Republican party started off as basically a single-issue party focused on abolitionism.  I'm sure they campaigned on other stuff too, but that was their one, big, motivating idea.  It got them off the ground and into the White House fairly quickly.

Given how rotten the GOP has become and how the Democrats are on a similar trajectory, it feels like there's a real opportunity for a political realignment that could include a new party replacing one of the current two.  But that new party needs to give people a reason to support it.  Something like UBI would represent a transformational change to how our society is set up.  It might be a bad idea (I'd probably support it), but at least it has the potential to get people excited.  It's also a welcome change of pace from the same stupid culture war issues and the familiar debate over whether income taxes should be marginally higher or marginally lower.  It's different in a way that lets a new party differentiate itself from the other two -- neither the Republicans nor Democrats would ever invest any political resources in something like this.

 
This is interesting, because I think I see this exactly the opposite way.  

When I look at the Forward Party's page, I see a bunch of really boring "good government" stuff, like RCV, open primaries, and things like "fact-based governance" and "effective and modern government."  There's a certain type of person who gets motivated to vote over things like term limits and redistricting reform -- that type of person was one of the half dozen folks who voted for Paul Tsongas, and their solution to everything is campaign finance reform.  They represent about 5% of the electorate, and the entire political establishment is united against them because all of these things are a direct threat to incumbency.  It seems to me that it's basically impossible to get a new party off the ground on issues like this.

The other problem that third parties sometimes run into is trying too hard to be "centrist."  The Reform Party was kind of like that at one point.  Again, you can't motivate people to engage in party-building on the back of "we should run government somewhat more efficiently."  You need something that inspires.

My knowledge of the history here might be mistaken, but I was always under the impression that the Republican party started off as basically a single-issue party focused on abolitionism.  I'm sure they campaigned on other stuff too, but that was their one, big, motivating idea.  It got them off the ground and into the White House fairly quickly.

Given how rotten the GOP has become and how the Democrats are on a similar trajectory, it feels like there's a real opportunity for a political realignment that could include a new party replacing one of the current two.  But that new party needs to give people a reason to support it.  Something like UBI would represent a transformational change to how our society is set up.  It might be a bad idea (I'd probably support it), but at least it has the potential to get people excited.  It's also a welcome change of pace from the same stupid culture war issues and the familiar debate over whether income taxes should be marginally higher or marginally lower.  It's different in a way that lets a new party differentiate itself from the other two -- neither the Republicans nor Democrats would ever invest any political resources in something like this.
You might be right in most of that. I am far from a historian. Perhaps I was just being pessimistic, given how over-reactionary the majority of the country seems to be. Everything is a crisis, etc. I kinda expect that having an easy target like UBI, it'll just die by attacks from both the left and right.

I'd love a 3rd party situation, rather than a replacement situation.

 

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