It’s time to throw the rascals out!

Unaffiliated Voters of America Party or UVAP?

It’s time to throw the rascals out!
by Mark E. Towner

As many of you know I come from Alaska via Seattle via Japan. Back in the 1970’s time frame, Washington State had two of the most powerful Senators in Washington, Henry (Scoop) Jackson and Warren G Magnusson. They were both Democrats, but were in the leadership ranks in the defense of the United States during the cold war.

There were a number of scandals attributed to Magnuson and the Democratic controlled State Legislature and a grassroots movement created what was called the OWL party.

Once elected in Utah, to continue in office usually depends only on a handful of people who get elected every two years in caucus meetings. These elected officials need only keep these delegates happy and keep getting them elected in their respective precincts to keep their elected nomination positions as incumbents to get re-elected over and over again.

The recent revelations of possible misconduct by our neighboring Idaho US Senator and other Republican elected Federal and State officials scandals now brings to a head the same issues that created a 3rd political party in Washington State. The OWL stood for “Out With Legislators” and was created from both good Democrats and Republicans that were sick and tired of the Party corruption on both sides. The slogan for their campaign was “Throw the Rascals Out”.

This group targeted any Legislator, both local, state, and Federal who’s ethics, antics, and actions were found to be in question, or they were convicted of crimes but refused to step down from office.

I truly believe that we as a country are now at a crossroads in the two major party system. I feel Mitt Romney could be one of the most organized, families oriented and ethical of the current first tier presidential candidates, however the nomination system of the major two parties will likely make it impossible for him to receive the nomination.

As I have commented before on many occasions, the extremes of both parties have captured leadership and fund raising positions making it impossible for candidates who differ on some hot button positions from ever being considered by its respective party’s delegates. Additionally elected officials that have been in office longer and longer become addicted to the power of the position, and actually believe that nobody can do the job better then themselves. They always tend to forget that they were once freshman legislators and learned the ropes, just like anyone can if given the opportunity. You give an honest hardworking person an elected position and they usually rise to the occasion. However with time, (usually 12 years) they become beholding to so many special interests and groups for their re-election fund raising that they can no more blow their nose without asking permission from their key lobbyists. The healthcare problems in this country are a direct result of these elected officials in the pocket of the Industry. A perfect example is Sen. Hillary Clinton received the most money from the Healthcare Industry for her campaign. Have you heard on word from the Senator lately about her healthcare plans?

As a sign of further frustration within our own Utah Republican Party, I have officially changed my political party designation to “unaffiliated” and plan on forming a formal “Unaffiliated Voters Party of Utah” to place good honest mainstream candidates on the ballot to “Throw the Rascals Out”.

We will be seeking like minded “Unaffiliated Utah Voters” to sign our petition to get this new Party recognized here in Utah, and maybe elsewhere in the US.

If you are interested in becoming involved in this effort send an email to uvap@ssl-mail.com

Who are the Unaffiliated Voters?

Unaffiliated Voters seek a non-partisan approach to electing our officials is necessary to secure the future we all want. They have been the major swing vote in every election for the last few decades and now should to be noticed as a major part of keeping our democracy responsive to the needs of the citizens.

We encourage and embrace all Political Parties as long as they move our country forward in a positive way. They also feel that, as an organized voice asking for, and then hearing, non-filtered, full, non-partisan information directly from the people running for each office in this country, it makes the voters better informed before making our voting decisions.

This means we can then vote for the person and not a party.

It also means that the parties must become solution seekers as opposed to the political game playing we have had over our country's history.

Voters should individually focus on the person who can do the best job no matter which color of political flag they may fly. We should be only interested in one flag and that is the flag of our country