But, you are not the poorest, and you are not among the richest, so this issue will not be addressed in your life time – except by The Moderate Independent.  This is one of the reasons people do not vote – unless a dividend tax cut or government health insurance will help you, no one seems to know you exist.

2)  Safe Food - Clinton did it.  Now Bush has done it.  It doesn’t matter which party you vote for, our President will stand before Europe and chastise them for keeping the hormones, antibiotics, and bio-engineered foods out of their grocery stores.  Do you know many countries don’t even allow pesticides on their foods?

Let's get this straight:  We, the leader of the world, should require all of our citizens to be guinea pigs, seeing what the breast cancer, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s rates are for people who eat these foods?  Even more, our government should go around chastising the world for protecting their people?

We introduced growth hormones into our cows – so it affects our beef and milk.  And soon we are all growing bigger and bigger ourselves.  Coincidence?

Maybe, maybe not, but we deserve a president who leaves the lab testing for the labs, not for the general population.  Standing for hormone/anti-biotic practices is not good for our farmers – if you allow one farmer to do it, all must to compete, and so farmers who care to grow wholesome food are at a disadvantage.  Our government should protect the good farmers, protect the health of its people, and stop being an anti-role model for the rest of the world.

3)  Vacation - Another, “Clinton did it.  Now Bush has done it, too.”

The standard line goes, “If you give workers more vacation, you will hurt the economy.”

Anyone with more than fifth-grade observational skills will notice that we’ve had both good and bad economic times while staying at the same level of vacation.  They love to frighten and manipulate you with, “It will affect your job,” talk.  One second, taxes is the only thing that affects whether or not you will have a job.  The next, it is vacation.  The next, workers rights – such as 40 hour work weeks for salaried employees.

And yet, we had the booming 1990’s at a vacation level that we are having the depression of early 2000.   And guess what?  Europe, which gives its workers – virtually all, not just a select few – five to six weeks of vacations a year, not to mention far more holidays, had good economic times and bad economic times while having this level of vacation.

It goes back to “Family Values” again.  Why do Americans not have a right to spend some time each year – more than just a long weekend here or there, but some actual time – seeing their families, and, god forbid, seeing the world?

The reality is that giving workers a month off each year is good for production and a company.  It allows for time to reflect and improve on what has been done the year before.  It provides a goal for employees to work toward, and a chance to enjoy the fruit of their work and recharge their batteries.

The logic that it is best to give little to no vacation is as stupid as saying, “If a man can run a mile in 6 minutes, that means he can run 5 miles in 30 minutes.”  Of course that is not true.  There is only so far a man can run at that speed.  If you have him run 5 miles without rest, each mile will get slower and slower.  And truly, he will pace himself to run slower from the beginning, so as not to wear himself out.

If he has to run those same five miles, but with a good ten minute rest between miles, he can maintain something much nearer the 6 minute mile he is capable of.  And he won’t burn himself out, causing him to slow even further.  A little rest not only increases production, but, is the right of any human.  Why do we exist, to keep corporate bonuses for CEO’s at their peaks?  Or so we can live decent lives ourselves, spending time with the ones we love, seeing the world we live on.

Neither party touches this issue, since the corporate-owned-and-operated media will play the, “It will cost us all our jobs,” fear card every time.  Only The Moderate Independent will introduce this topic into the national conversation for you.

4) Curfews and the 21 Year-old Drinking Age - 18 year olds should be out dancing, socializing.  College kids should not be locked away in their dorm rooms, forced to drink in isolation with their small group of friends.  They should be out, socializing, enjoying life while they are young, getting exercise while dancing, seeing and experiencing things.

Not in America.  Young adults are forced to sit home, watching TV, eating Doritos.

But wait, it gets better.  A 17 year old college freshman taking a Shakespeare class goes to see the latest version of Hamlet.  They catch an eight o’clock show.  The show lasts three hours.  Guess who is waiting for them outside the theater?

This is a true story.  Outside of the theatre, the police were waiting.  You see, weeknight curfew in Chicago is 10:30.  The police knew the movie ran three hours, and so would end after curfew, and so they waited outside the theatre to cite all of these young adults – enhancing their lives by seeing a production of Hamlet – as criminals.

Both the 21-year old drinking age and curfews must be eliminated.  You can not anti-socialize our young people – making it illegal for them to be social – and then wonder why they act anti-socially.

The problem never was 18 year old drinking – it was drunk driving.  We didn’t have the courage to deal with the real issue by passing strong, inescapable drunk driving laws, because we didn’t want such laws to affect us adults.

So instead, we served our consciences by criminalizing the youth of our country.  We all know college kids drink.  We all know it is unreasonable to assert that a 20 year-old factory worker can’t go out with his co-workers to watch Monday Night Football, because he is not allowed into the bar.  That a young wife or husband can’t buy wine to cook with or drink with dinner.  That a college kid should not have so much as a single beer until he is a least a senior.  That our 18, 19, and 20 year old service men and women can’t have a beer and watch the Super Bowl, should they get a day off from fighting the War on Terror.

We all know this.  And yet we criminalize our young people, forcing them to forge I.D.’s, obtain alcohol illegally, to think of our police officers as enemies to be thwarted rather than people who secure our cities and towns.  And, of course, never once has a drug dealer asked to see proper I.D.

Even more, we make it illegal for those under 18 to be out of the house.  Permanent Martial Law.  And for what crime or crisis?

Again, neither party will touch this issue that affects all of us, and our nation as a whole in an entirely profound way.

This is why most Americans don’t vote.  If you want to hear about which taxes should or shouldn’t be cut, or health insurance for the poor, you are in luck.  If you want someone to address the issues that really affect our lives, you are not so lucky.

But rest assured, The Moderate Independent will be your voice.  And, as we continue to grow, will be sure the things that matter get introduced into the national discussion.

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