The Jacksonian Party Stop Gap Energy Policy

The following is a position paper of The Jacksonian Party.

The Jacksonian Party favors an Energy Independence Policy for the United States.

To get the Nation from the current energy non-policy to the future of Energy Independence, the Jacksonian Party proposes a Stop Gap Policy for Energy Production, Refining and Research.

In the following all normal guidelines for air, water and soil conservation and pollution shall be demonstrated by companies. However, Environmental Impact Statements are waived with some provisos for endangered habitat and historical sites, which shall be addressed by companies and technology or techniques to mitigate damage to same demonstrated. Additionally, all such companies, to gain this waiver, MUST demonstrate the capability to pay, in-full, over 5 years for a worst-case scenario of their Energy Production, Refining and/or Research. For those companies creating effluent that will impinge upon States, they shall demonstrate ability to meet State level guidelines for such.

Only entirely US based companies and firms are eligible for any of these awards and land use.

For the Production of current energy sources the Federal Government shall open up the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for petroleum exploration and drilling. No other mining or land use, beyond that necessary for such production, drilling and environment mitigation is allowed. Additionally the Continental Shelf Economic Zone of the United States shall be opened for such use.

For Refining and Research the Federal Government shall make open the entire Closed Base and other Polluted Federal Lands list to use by companies and energy producing and research companies. All such leases will be payable at a rate of $1 US per month for 99 years. A final clean-up plan for that land shall also be demonstrated and funds set aside or continual and/or incremental cleanup plans demonstrated. As such lands are already polluted, only mitigation of pollution spread is necessary along with meeting the standard normal guidelines for effluent and air quality. Of prime concern is petroleum refining and this shall be given the highest priority for those companies able to demonstrate need for such land and ability to utilize it for same. If competing and similar concepts are proposed and they are of equal value to the American People, then companies shall be chosen by random means, although the first winner is excluded from all subsequent awards for petroleum refining until all companies have won a single award or have dropped from competition for same due to geographic location.

Federal Polluted Land or Base Land that has been closed shall also be given consideration for new and novel energy production and research.

For current energy production, ALL categories of energy are to be considered so long as effluent guidelines are met.

For energy research, this research shall be to new or novel techniques or capabilities. For those of existing or renewable energy sources, the Federal Government shall award prizes on the following:

1. Biomass. On a per acre basis of non-aquaculture capability, a company that can demonstrate a 20% solar energy conversion rate and net energy production above and beyond all energy needed to be used to grow, cultivate, store, ship and refine such sources shall be awarded at a basis of $1 Billion for the first full acre of land that can produce such for three continuous years. This shall be awarded to each technology that uses different techniques and capabilities to the first three of same that can be demonstrated. Mere variations on technique or capability are not sufficient for this and entirely different means and methods must be demonstrated as reaching net energy output and conversion rate of greater than 20% from incoming solar radiation. No other energy means may be added into the net result unless it be accounted for in the entire processing cycle.
   
2. Solar conversion to electricity. On a per acre basis of non-aquatic nature, a company that can demonstrate a rate of 45% solar energy conversion to electricity shall be awarded $10 Billion. To gain such award the technology needs to use only solar, reflected lunar or starlight for energy input and may use no other source for output. Further, it must be demonstrated that such technology over its expected lifespan shall produce ten times (10x) the amount of energy necessary to create such capability and maintain it. This award shall be done after three years of demonstrated capability with daylight uptime of 99.99%. The first three different technologies or techniques to demonstrate such shall gain this award beyond mere variations of a single technique or capability.
   
3. Space based power conversion and transmission to Earth. The awards in this category shall be from: Earth orbit, Lunar surface and non-Earth/Moon Solar System Space. The technologies are to be demonstrate as being able to produce 10 Gigawatts of destination or Earth based distribution of electricity from space based sources. In each of these three areas novel technologies and techniques for doing so demonstrating that no other source of input other than space based naturally provided ones are being used. The Award for this shall be $10 Billion for a demonstrated capability over a three year period with 99.99% uptime CONTINUOUSLY. The first three of these technologies shall gain this award.
   
4. Superconductivity. The United States seeks environmental temperature superconductors for Terrestrial and Space based use. For either of these environments, superconductors must demonstrate full capability to operate with no support equipment within their environment and still retain superconductive capability. Only specially made sheathing or protective coatings are allowable for this award area. The first three techniques that can demonstrate a continual three year transmission of 1 Megawatt with zero loss over 100 miles shall gain this award of $1 Billion. As with other areas, mere variation in technology will not gain this award, but only new and novel approaches to do same are eligible.
   
5. Nanotechnology based clean energy creation, conversion and storage. For each of these areas, nanotechnological means that demonstrate new and novel approaches for the creation, storage and conversion of energy that are compatible with existing systems are to gain awards.

   A) For the creation of new energy such technology must demonstrate the capability to process out ten times the energy used to produce for same over the life expectancy of that source.

   
   B) On storage the technology must be demonstrated to be 95% efficient for atom or molecular based storage and 99.999% efficient.

   C) On conversion the technology must demonstrate itself to be 95% efficient for molecular conversion and 99.999% efficient for electrical conversion. The molecular conversion is the direct conversion of one fuel type to another, while electrical conversion is a direct processing via demonstrated means from an external molecular or atomic source to electricity.

   Each of these areas shall offer prizes for the first three novel or new approaches on a per area basis, although a single technology may encompass all three and gain a triple award. The single award is to be $1 Billion for three years of continued and demonstrable use.

The Jacksonian Party supports highly the concept of Energy Independence for the United States. By putting common resources to the disposal of US Companies The Jacksonian Party seeks to increase the welfare of the People by letting their ingenuity be put to good use.

Popular Mechanics on Energy Policy [UPDATED 6 JUL 2006]

The Jacksonian Party supports an energy independent America.

The policy for getting to energy independence is laid out here. The following is an in-depth analysis of energy alternatives.

Now a huge and massive hat tip to Instapundit for pointing out this article at Popular Mechanics on the efficiencies and necessities for alternative fuels!

It is a wonderful example of the sort of things that need to be considered when drafting an energy policy JUST to replace fossil fuels. That cannot be done overnight nor quickly nor without expense to the economy. Mind you it does not take in the entire energy needs of the nation, just fossil fuels for motor vehicles.

So let me post their summation picture chart as such things are supposedly worth some largish number of words (Source: Popular Mechanics):
And let me go through on fuel by fuel to give the quick overview of what they found:

1) E85 - Ethanol/Gas mix at 85%/15% - First it has a lower fuel density, thus requiring about 1.5 gallons to replace 1 gallon of gas, but is higher in octane, so theoretically runs better and gets better mileage. The energy produced is between 34%-66% higher than the energy put into refining it, so a net surplus of energy output, but there does need to be an energy INPUT beyond sunlight. Using corn is the most efficient method of producing ethyl alcohol, so a plus there... maybe... on the downside is that to realize better fuel economies the entire powerplant of a motor vehicle needs be made alcohol resistant. Alcohol is a corrosive agent and a solvent, so everything in the fuel train needs be of resistant plastic or stainless steel. Which, of necessity, makes for a higher cost of production over normal grade steel used in motor vehicles and ordinary rubber/composite gaskets. Further, plastic needs a base and that base is usually... oil. The summary by PM is that the yield of 300 gallons of ethanol per acre would require 675 million acres of arable land devoted ONLY to corn production in the US. That is 71% or so of the nation's arable land lent to this... and corn is harsh on the soil, requiring all sorts of wonderful chemicals to replenish the soil, and those are produced with lots of energy and, a few of them, from... oil.

Now a bit FURTHER than just that. Corn takes 125 days to mature after emergence, so that is the total time of growing to full maturity and being ready for harvesting, although storage may require a lower level of dryness and some additional field time. Now the average monthly insolation, or solar energy per square meter per month, in the central growing region is about 4 kWh/sq.m. So, 1 acre is about 4,047 square meters. The acre of land picks up 16,188 kWh per month, and putting a month at 30 days gets 539 kWh/day and for the growing of corn that is 125 days, you get 67,450 kWh potential energy to be converted. Now crunching some numbers from PM on Gasoline, it has a per gallon BTU content of 124,800 and 15% of that is 18,720. E85 has 80,000 BTU/gal thus the 85% ethanol component is 61,280 BTU. Doing the math of 61,280: 0.85 to X : 1.00 yields 72,094 BTU/gallon of ethanol and one acre yields 300 gallons and thusly 21,628,200 BTU/year/acre ethanol. Now pressing the average insolation per acre/year yields 196,735 kWh, or converted to BTU 671,287,654, but that is unfair to the poor little corn plant! So lets make it the 125 day growing season of 67,450 kWh/acre/growing season to yield 6,336 kWh/acre/growing season of corn. This gets you a conversion rate of 9.39%

That is to get you 300 usable gallons of ethanol. Isn't science wonderful? And that does not *include* the energy *spent* making fertilizers, running combines and doing all sorts of other fun things. What this does leave out is the fact that the rest of the plant is used for biomass and feed and other things, but this is just a look at the energy for replacing fossil fuels. Maybe the folks would prefer to put up solar cells, instead?

2) Methanol M85 - Methyl alcohol 85%, Gasoline 15% - Methanol comes from methane (natural gas) and has many sources, but a low volatility that requires a mixing with something more flammable to get it going, like gasoline. On the downside it is more corrosive than ethanol and has less energy per volume than ethanol. Most methods to obtain it use natural gas from fossil fuel reserves, thus shifting dependency from one fossil fuel to another and not the object of the game. Methanol based fuel cells, however, for small electronics use is going to be a large component of future portable devices as methanol is quite compact for such uses. But for vehicles, again a new fuel train, power train and specialized internal components are necessary.

For anyone pointing to a bio solution for production, you will have to beat the energy conversion of corn by a substantial amount for ethanol, and garner a conversion percentage DOUBLE that of corn. Good luck!

3) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) - Methane - CNG is great stuff, but is under high pressure and 44,000 BTU per unit volume as compared to nearly 3 times that of gasoline. Approximately 2 kWh of energy must be used to compress methane to CNG per unit volume equivalent to gasoline. At this point in time that would still be far cheaper than gasoline as methane is relatively inexpensive. And the fuel train and power train only need some tweaking to use the stuff as it decompresses to methane.

That said methane USE is increasing drastically on a global scale and even the US is looking at importing the stuff in CNG form just for industrial use. While the US is relatively rich in methane, it is from fossil fuel sources and, thus, a non-renewable. And the aim of the game is to get to a renewable energy source that is cheaper than gasoline. While you would be able to do CNG compression at home for the cost of methane and electricity, the use of fuel stations and depots is something else again. We would be exchanging liquid gasoline storage with high pressure liquefied gas storage and need to drive around with same. And once released via damage the stuff tends to rupture its tanks and produce a fuel-air explosion in a confined area, which is your vehicle, thus drawing all of the oxygen rapidly from everything, which is you. Not my favorite way to drive around, better to have a liquid burning that can be put out over an explosive loss of air. Having a daisy-cutter go off in/under/behind/around your car is not a fun thing to have happen. So possible, but its long-term prospects are not good.

4) Biodiesel - Petrodiesel is similar to gasoline in BTU content and biodiesel is renewable, although it will need additives to prevent low temperature solidification. But PM does a great disservice by glossing over the acre yields for this... so a bit of research is needed... (all diesel calculations to use 125,000 BTU/gallon or 36.63 kWh/gallon)

But the base power conversion will be to get a better output than corn per acre, so looking into the Wikipedia article, we can take a look at the best alternatives (using biodiesel yields from Journey to Forever):

Palm oil - 635 gallons per acre - So palm trees are tropical and I will bump up average insolation to 5.0/meter/month, although 7 or 8 would really be realistic. But that also means it is annual and you can get multiple seed cycles per year to get that 635 gal/acre/year. That gives us 23,263 kWh/year with insolation at 246,193 kWh/year with a yield of 9.45% But it can't easily find that lovely annual cycle in the US save for the most southerly and Hawaii regions, and add in the amount of moisture and it is a limited crop.

Jatropha - 202 gallons per acre - And pretty plants, to boot! But, that said their yield is lower and look to need higher insolation values like palm. So the numbers look like this: Jatropha 7,400 kWh/acre/year and insolation the same as Palm Oil for a conversion rate of 3.0%. Not good at all! That said, it is a plant used to drought conditions and may serve in areas of low rainfall for soil preservation. But it would be yet another xenospecies. This is assuming that once started this plant can give its seed on a perennial basis. Remember that corn, on an annual basis does not have a good conversion ratio, so it may be a bit unfair to Jatropha.

Mustard - 61 gallons per acre - Using the more standard 4 kWh/square meter land. Now, using this site, we see that it takes about 90 days to get to the seed point, so we will fairly convert that over for corn comparison. So it produces 2235 kWh/year/acre of diesel while having 48,564 kWh/year/acre insolation or 4.6% conversion ratio for its growing season. Other varieties will get you different yields.

Rapeseed - Lets take the 127 gallons per acre - Now this looks to be an interesting plant with many uses and we know it by the Canola oil concept. Now since there are two varieties and they would have overlapping germination and seeding cycles, it looks like its an either/or spring or fall crop. No twofers! And since optimal growing conditions cannot be assured, we will use the average of the faster growing variety, which, like mustard, is 90 days. In point of fact, you are basically comparing variants in the mustard family, and this variety yields 4,653 kWh/year/acre with the same insolation as Mustard seed for a conversion rate of 9.58%.

Soybean - 48 gallons per acre - Now one of the important things to understand is that like all plants, soybeans have a variable growing season based on weather and climate. No one wants to easily give up an average growth to harvest time... so an average of 100 days will be used. Luckily it grows in 4.0 insolation areas, so the math is easy! Soybean output is 1,758 kWh/year/per acre and insolation is 53,960 kWh/year/acre during the 100 day season thus 3.26% conversion ratio.

The best biodiesel is Palm based, but those plants are troublesome for their lifecycle. Other plants do worse and gain lower yields. So although the fuel delivery system would not need to be revamped, the conversion to diesel would require the phasing out of gasoline and the phasing-in of diesel. And the best solution for temperate climates would be mustard seed which has a decent yield. Now if we do a 1:1 conversion of how much gas would be swapped for diesel, the US would consume (using this google cache of James R. Katzer addressing the Cosmos Club) about 125 billion gallons of gasoline per year. Of which 892,857,143 acres would need to be devoted to this endeavor, out of the 938 million acres available. Not good. Plus we would have to add in the already *existing* diesel use to this equation...

5) Electricity - Need additional sources of same. Now, with 125 billion gallons going to gasoline and the efficiency of an internal combustion engine in the 20% range you have the amount of energy ACTUALLY DELIVERED to move the vehicle of 3,125,000,000,000,000 BTU/year or 9.16E+11 kWh/year. As electric motor efficiency is very high in the 90% range and energy storage in the same so lets use a nice 85% transfer rate, that would mean to go electric, the US power grid would need to deliver: 1.08E+12 kWh/year. For comparison the Itaipu dam in Brazil, the largest single generator of electricity in the world puts out 7.5E+10 kWh/year, which is 20 times LESS than will be needed to get an all electric automobile fleet. Yes you would need 20 of those to do the job. If the transfer/storage/conversion rate of electricity was near 100% with superconductors, then you would still need 13 of Itaipu's to do this.

6) Hydrogen - Relatively safe, hard to transport and store unless some nanotech way can be found to do so, requires special pipes and generally is so safe it burns to create water. Basic chemistry is against this one as there is no cheap and efficient method to crack hydrogen off of water or hydrocarbons. If electricity were cheap, this would be a leading solution. But as it is not so at this point, hydrogen remains the fuel of potential for fusion as the payback of fusing four atoms and getting that slight mass loss back is enormous. The Sun proves that as does every other star in the universe.

UPDATE 7 JUN 2006: Note is taken of this Popular Mechanics article on catalyzing hydrogen from water. This last sentence is critical: "If electricity needed to produce the hydrogen is wind- or solar-generated, the entire process is, essentially, emissions-free." So even by reducing the cost of generation by about 38%, hydrogen is *still* not there yet.

So, the United States can pay for new industrial infrastructure and it is up to We the People to help make that decision. To replace fossil fuels will require a wholesale changeover of the US economy to something *different* in the long run. The choices as laid out are: agricultural fuel replacement to use every bit of productive land to replace fossil fuels and install an entirely agrarian based fuel economy or find some other way.

The Jacksonian Party supports moving industry and electrical production into Earth orbit and exploiting Lunar material for basic elemental components with which to build everything necessary. The cost is to put out prize money for reaching identifiable goals and the US Government to offer good and hard cash payments for achievable results on energy production via Solar Power Satellites. This cannot be a 'first past the post' system as America needs competition to survive and a robust space infrastructure to flourish in the 21st Century and beyond. The time to build that is now, while we still can.

The Jacksonian Party supports this completely and will look towards temporary stop-gaps to keep the United States rolling on as it is for the next two decades, but by then there should be HUNDREDS of Itaipu level projects FINISHED and installed IN ORBIT. This will give low cost electrical energy with which the United States may build an entirely new conception of industry above and beyond that which chemistry alone can deliver.

The survival of the United States as an industrial nation that is forward looking is paramount. Today is not the time to yearn for a dream of yesteryear and the quaint notions of a chemistry driven economy. That will always be a sector of a large economy, but the economy itself must find new territory to grow and expand, and that will only be done with electricity and LOTS OF IT. The only place to get that unlimited source is space.

For the future of the United States to exist as an independent Nation, The Jacksonian Party pushes the forward looking concept of industrial space-based economic and energy production to the utmost. Its day has long been coming, but those wanting to keep industry, power generation and the attendant pollution of same on this planet have hindered such goals. For the freedom of the individual to have endless horizons to explore, the United States must offer those horizons, beyond mere navel gazing. And the only and last frontier to explore forever onwards is not on this planet, with all of its vagaries and problems and limited space and potential.

If the United States cannot offer that freedom, then it shall perish as a concept and a Nation.

And cede the unlimited potential of space to tyranny and subjugation as those forces look to strangle this the heart of liberty once and for good and all by getting to the high ground FIRST.

We can no longer go to the moon without a lot of damn hard work.

And if we do not look to ourselves to reach upwards, we will find ourselves drowning with NO gifts to offer to anyone.

Even ourselves.

[UPDATE: the following taken from a similar discussion at JOM on ethanol, all spelling intact]
Ahh... numbers, numbers, numbers... yes, I ran the numbers on most of this some time ago here. The major thing to look at is conversion efficiency of sunlight to useful fuel per acre and growing season. Now, for a growing season of 125 days the US can convert about 9.39% of solar energy, per acre, into 300 gallons of ethanol. Now, if you look at palm oil for biodiesel you get a 9.45% efficiency of conversion rate, but it is garnered via multiple crops per year in tropical conditions and that efficiency drops when you get into a growing season cyclic pattern. Ditto for Rapeseed at 9.58%.

So a quick look at sugarcane:

1) Industrial production is about 5 crops per year Chakra in Argentina. However, that is in tropical conditions with a 'semi-perennial' plant.

2) Yield of ethanol per acre of sugarcane is 662 gallons/acre(SARID source)... but do note that this is in a region that is tropical and so has the equivalent of 5 growing seasons per year for a semi-perennial plant.

3) Insolation received varies between 4.5 to 6.5 kW/square meter/day. Now for palm oil I used 5.0 kW/square meter/day and to keep things generalized in the tropics I will use that for sugarcane. So, the annual energy received from the sun per acre is: 246,193 kWh/year per acre.

4) Per gallon ethanol has 80,000 BTU or 23.4 kWh. Thus, those 662 gallons contain: 15,520 kWh. Or a conversion rate of input energy to output energy of 6.3%.

So the Brazilians are converting 6.3% of their available energy to ethanol per acre and only achieving a net energy gain when they burn the rest of the plant for electricity... say, are they scrubbing that to reduce emissions? Now, if you were *fair* you would also look at all the other things that corn was used for in the way of energy output and such, but I will stick to the pure ethanol equation since that is what everyone seems to harp upon.

So, Brazil, to gain its 'energy independence' needs to cut down vast swaths of rainforst for a crop that will give a minimal turnover for energy yield and deplete the thin rainforest soil in a few years so that it is no longer fit for agriculture. Thus requiring more rainforst to be cut down.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

How green *is* Brazil?

And exactly how sustainable *is* sugarcane for energy production given the agricultural realities of Brazil?

And, as a bonus question, why on Earth would the US want to substitute third world agrarian Nations with a penchant to totalitarianism in place of oil producing natiions with the exact same profile, save many having a virulent strain of a religion vice a tendancy for Communism in the agrarian nations?

Needless to say, I am not impressed with the *green* fuel source. And this does not include the necessary investment in infrastructure to use it.

If we need to have a new infrastructure, let us make sure that it garners us a new entire industrial outlook in the doing, which is what I look at here for the long-term and a stop-gap, near term energy policy to get us from here to there.

But that is because I truly *want* a sustainable energy supply for the long-term and a brighter future for the Nation.

[And then more]

ed - Very true, not every third world nation that is agrarian does have these tendancies. But finding stable, multi-decadal nations with vast amounts of cropland to spare for creating a low efficiency fuel for the US economy is difficult. Even E85 would use up the equivalent of 70% the cropland in the US, going to E100 would use it all up and need another good sized nation to boot... and then there is the actual question of growing *food*.

Dwilkers - You are correct on the hydrogen movement. Electrical fractionation still eats up more energy than is stored by the resultant fuel. And even the latest catalytic systems do not overcome that obstacle. If electricity were cheap, hydrogen is obvious. It isn't so hydrogen isn't.

So, onwards from that...
Overall it is the paradigm of not liking the oil producing regimes for being despotic, etc. and they have fractious problems beyond that. Currently the US uses an approximate 125 billion gallons of gasoline/year note that Brazil's vaunted production of Ethanol is 4 billion gallons per year. The Brazilian solution is fine if you want to exchange rainforest for current fuel supply, not so good otherwise. But, given that, its entire Ethanol output at E85 is 3.2% of US gasoline consumption. Got about 40 Brazils to pony up to the bar on this? Mind you, that is just to *cover* gasoline consumption... not to speak of diesel and the fossil fuels used for plastics, lubricants, and suchlike.

While the argument *could* be made that it would be possible to find a large number of nations each to supply us with a bit of that, we are then looking at the addition of transport costs, etc. done with petroleum. Those vessels haven't been designed yet and because of the nature of Ethanol, is not likely to be an easy retrofit into the existing infrastructure.

Then you can start looking at the actual potential suppliers, which you would like to have year 'round production, so that makes the tropics the obvious looking point. So, South America, Africa, Some parts of the Middle East (although the climate is against that), India (which may do its own thing), South East Asia, and lots of island nations. Start nominating your obvious choices for being the future energy suppliers to the US! You would like stable regimes that have a record of stability, offer freedom to its people, have not had any Communist leanings since the end of the Cold War, have no despotic neighbors seeking to gain control of resources, does *not* have a virulent religion wanting to kill anyone not of it... oh, and is tropical has moderate and consistent rainfall, will practice good agricultural methods to sustain production and is a reliable trading partner. You may have your own criteria, but those are mine and seem semi-sensible at least, so as to avoid the current problems we have with our regular oil suppliers.

Oh, anyone who thinks Global Warming is true, you may want to look at rates of tropical desertification and realize that if all the worrying is *right* then those suppliers of Ethanol will... ummm... dry up. I don't believe that, but climactic cycles are moving back to their pre-1300 norms, and large portions of what we know as rainforst in Mesoamerica and South America were relatively dry grasslands, especially the coastal regions. The Amazon has its own weather, of course... just what deforestation will do to that... who knows?

Or we could invest heavily in Canada and use their oil production and pay them market prices for it to build up their western provinces. And they already have oil pipelines to the US and they reversed the flow of them two years ago, so they now EXPORT oil to the US. And actually open up our continental shelf for exploration... the Cubans have brought in the Chinese to do just that off the coast of Florida.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Remember, we use 9.16E11 kWh every year to move our vehicles. Time's a ticking away.

How to make The Jacksonian Party

This document is the Guidance Document for Creation of The Jacksonian Party.


Preface

The Jacksonian Party is unlike any other political party in that it has NO hierarchy. The Jacksonian Party has no steering committees, no fund raising arm, no right to say who and who may not run as a Jacksonian, and, finally, no right to enforce its beliefs upon any single member or group of members or the People as a whole.

The Jacksonian Party is a political party of Networks. Jacksonians, as individuals within this party concept, will equally share ideas, discuss them and create better and more refined versions of them that strictly adhere to the Constitutional separation of powers and not only enforces them but creates new rights for the People [these are the part of all rights that the people withhold to themselves via Amendments IX and X, no further rights need be promulgated in the Constitution or via law. In this the creation of rights is the exploration of them and finding formulations not previously thought about]. The Jacksonian Party, at some point, will need to come into contact with the older formulation of how to enter politics, which has been set up by the current two National parties at local levels. As any other third party has found, this system is nearly impossible to get into, as it has stiff requirements based on the old conception of what a political party *is*. So The Jacksonian Party will need to ask for help through all of its networks that ARE its members: political, social, electronic, economic, and so forth. Where you have friends and associates as an individual Jacksonian adhering to the concepts of The Jacksonian Party, you as that individual shall put forth the ideas and ideals of Jacksonianism and ask those friends and associates if they are willing to support same to change the nature of politics.

The Jacksonian Party has core and simple beliefs: that the Citizen has many responsibilities towards this Nation and must use their Rights to seek those ends, beyond that of the Federal government which is only a small part of those ends. By giving honor, trust, friendship and using Rights in a manner that is *constructive* to those Rights, The Jacksonian Party supports a vigorous social intercourse and the growth of the Republic that disparages no part of the People but uplifts the People as a whole. The Jacksonian Party adheres to the honor of previous generations in building the Republic, but realizes that they were mortal humans who may have actually gotten it wrong, and the things that looked good *then* may be a hindrance to We the People *now*.

All Governments within the Republic of the United States are set up to govern, not rule. Those portions of government which have become ruling factors or factions must be abolished totally and completely, and only *then* see if there are any parts of the original concept that helps in Governing the Law and ensuring equality of Justice and the Tranquility of the People in their lives, without harming their liberty and freedom.

The Jacksonian Party supports and adheres to the concept of the sparest and leanest government able to do a few things to help in actual governance and everything else is left up to the People without the interference or oversight of that government, save to ensure due process and equality for all of the People.

If and when any member of The Jacksonian Party seeks and attains high office of governance, that individual is enjoined on a daily basis to find ways to reign in government which has turned into a rod of rulership that hurts the People. Those individuals that are such members that attain such office will have as their first and foremost duty to ensure that government does not take or is given more rights than was intended to it and administers those few things it does efficiently and well.

The Jacksonian Party by being a distributed, non-centralized party will spread that message both in and of its members and from those that have sought and gained high office, and offer reasons WHY this is for the good of the People. It is expected that the current two party system will buck hard against this, but they are the parties of labor unions, phone banks, and mass mailings, while The Jacksonian Party is the party of simply explaining simple means to achieve simple ends via many-to-many media. The Jacksonian Party seeks to leverage the power of each individual in their lives to spread the word on the problems of the world and how to simply reform the approach of the government of the People so as to directly address such problems and bring them to an END.

The Jacksonian Party members expect that there will be valid and easy to explain reasons why government should not have MORE functions than it was intended to. The Jacksonian Party does NOT live by soundbites, but via the capability of each individual to reason for themselves. Any media that does not give full and accurate accounting of Jacksonian concepts, precepts, ideals and explanatory evidence of how these are being enacted will be addressed via all means across the board and all capabilities via all Jacksonians until such media properly and accurately represent Jacksonianism. Media that try to 'soundbite' or engage in polarizing conflict shall be called on that openly and publicly and then told that they shall either give fair hearing to ideas or have those ideas presented elsewhere fairly and told *why* it was not told via another media outlet.

The Jacksonian Party members recognize that they are first, and foremost, Citizens of the Republic of the United States. That the Constitution is in force for every moment of every day for every individual, and that the enjoining Preamble which describes what We the People set out to do means each and every member of the Republic at ALL times. The Constitution is living because We the People enforce it and use it DAILY and it shall only cease to exist once the last person who adheres to it, be they US Citizen or some last individual after some unforeseen event on the planet ends that life. When the last believer in the US Constitution dies, then, and only THEN does it die as a means of governing We the People.


Membership

Becoming a member of The Jacksonian Party is simple:

1) In your daily lives, use the precepts of honor, friendship, reciprocity and live-and-let-live as your standards for all behavior, and acknowledge all of the responsibilities placed upon you as a member of We the People in all of your actions.

2) The electronic and networked media offer the capability of creating autonomous webs and networks between individuals and groups of individuals. When officially declaring membership in The Jacksonian Party, clear and distinctive linkage will be given to such and to all of the documents that you personally support as designed by Party members. One may copy entire documents from The Jacksonian Party to their website and then place commentary *outside* of the text of the document or make a separate point by point analysis in a different post than the copied original document.

3) In the electronic media venue, you shall clearly state why and what parts of above documentation that you support and which parts you do NOT. The Jacksonian Party doctrine is a vital and growing capability and conflicting viewpoints are accepted and embraced as a lively means of GROWING the rights of the People as a whole and disparaging none of the People in so doing.

4) Any member of The Jacksonian Party is free to put out articles based upon their understanding of how Jacksonianism is used in creating a better Republic. When addressing things that affect such governing bodies or that impact upon We the People as a whole, clear and express definition and verbiage must be given to how such ideas adhere to the responsibilities of We the People and then how they are lawfully to be done via the Government or by the People in part or whole. The Jacksonian Party is about simple ideals expressed in modern terms to come to understandable results. Clear and express linkage from ideals through enaction to expected results must be adhered to so that good and better ideas may FLOURISH.

5) The Jacksonian Party is not a party of exclusivity and individuals may be members of other parties, groups, organizations, or other such as they please. In doing so, however, they must clearly put forth their concepts of Jacksonianism in what they do and why they do such things. And as Jacksonianism is a valid and known form of political thought and outlook, when asked what you are politically, it should naturally be: I am a Citizen of the Republic and a Jacksonian in outlook. That is not prescriptive, but is the only way to let people know that you clearly understand what you are about, can explain your philosophy of life and can clearly reason to the positions of understanding on how to do things to anyone who asks.

6) Outside of electronic media, each individual is left to their own cognizance on how and if it is appropriate to display their adherence to Jacksonianism. As We the People are creative, it is expected that creative means will be found to express such that gives honor to the conceptions of Jacksonianism and the Republic, and at most will gently chide others to more fully support the Republic and the hard work necessary to do same.

7) Individual Jacksonians may seek to meet up with others and form more localized groups via normal meeting places of their choice. Such venues as: libraries, hunting and fishing clubs, sports clubs, target ranges, restaurants, religious sites, schools, parks, and such are left to the cognizance of the individuals involved and availability of such spaces as offered to the General Public for such meetings.

The Jacksonian Party realizes that there are variations and strains of through and within Jacksonian culture and disparages none of them, and supports all efforts to building a better Republic. So long as such modes of thought show how they grow out of the solid base of Citizenship and Jacksonianism and demonstrate how that enaction of those things yields results through differing means that improves upon them, they are valid, even if such are held by one and only one member alone. Because a good idea may not be enacted well through one area, but may be *re-applied* to another area and find much better enaction, no mode of thought is left out, although some will prove more useful than others.


States Chapters

To enact a State Chapter of the Jacksonian Party requires cracking into the current two party stratified and ossified system which they have set up for themselves. This will prove difficult in the extreme and will frustrate many individual Jacksonians no end, as it has other groups trying to do same. Luckily, unlike those other groups, each member of The Jacksonian Party has a dispersed support network of OTHER Jacksonians to call upon for help. And help will be necessary across the board in some instances as State level offices try to actually BLOCK the expression of We the People to entertain a new political party into the local arena.

To encourage Citizen participation, let each individual know that signing up for The Jacksonian Party does not denigrate their current party affiliation in any way, shape or form. That The Jacksonian Party, unlike any other party, does embrace newness of thought and ideals so long as they work from the common foundations of the Constitution and Honorable Jacksonianism. And finally, explain that they, as signatories, are seen not only as equal members of the party, but are all of them on its Ruling Board. Where any State allows, each petitioner to enact The Jacksonian Party is an equal and ruling member of that Party. There is absolute equality in that. No Jacksonian is any better than any other Jacksonian and shall *not* dictate anything to any other member or to any government or to the People as a whole. Where States do not allow same, then the highest oversight position available is to be awarded to each signatory so that they each have the exact same rights of oversight and intercourse and will be awarded rights within The Jacksonian Party to freely express their opinions and be held in respect by other members.

It is fully and completely expected that individuals who are negative to the concepts and concerns of Jacksonianism will join up in an attempt to disrupt such evolving networks. These individuals will do things that are abhorrent to Jacksonians as individuals and as a whole: they will stage personal and unwarranted attacks, they will impugn labels based on what they think something is rather than the express action itself, and they will attempt to engage in fruitless and negative debate trying to bring down things they disagree with. Personal attacks, in a previous era, were meant to be backed up by the concept of a *duel*. As Jacksonians recognize that such has been outlawed, we instead seek other means to have individuals back up their words. Those attacks must be *substantiated* beyond mere pointing out that such-and-such an idea against a negatively connotated label as an IDEA. Those attacks must *demonstrate* that intended outcomes of proposed ideas are, indeed, negative and show exactly how and why they are. Finally, as those that would sink into personal name calling without substantiation are rife, the 'put-up or shut-up' rule will be a guiding precept for The Jacksonian Party and one of the few things all members shall adhere to as a basis for their membership:

It is not enough to impugn an idea or those holding it. To those who would do so, they may be asked to show their better concept that will replace the proposed idea and give clear and convincing evidence that it is, indeed, better. Further, they will then stand behind and defend that idea of their own conception which is offered in alternative. All personal attacks will CEASE and each individual shall then defend their own position without disparaging that of another individual. If this is NOT done, the individual seeking to denigrate will be asked to SHUT UP. If that individual will not do so, they will join a list of those officially 'read out' of The Jacksonian Party for not adhering to the responsibilities of We the People to build a better Republic with the right of Freedom of Speech. Once identified that individual may only re-enter the Party after giving a full and in-depth apology to those that have been offended and that apology must be accepted by each and every one that has been offended. A single NAY will continue the repudiation of the Party towards that individual. This is the honorable and just way to handle those that disparage others for having different ideas and offering none better on their own.

A note on duels: deadly combat is not allowed by The Jacksonian Party members to settle grievances. If the Put-up or Shut-up rule is deemed excessive and a challenge and counter-offer for non-deadly means can be set and IMMEDIATELY enacted or honorably enacted at a set time later to settle a dispute, it SHALL BE SO. Such events shall have 'seconds' in attendance who will ensure that the entire affair is carried out as described and that honor is served therein and that there is an amicable ending and handshaking afterwards and that both parties set the matter aside PERMANENTLY and will NEVER TAKE IT UP AGAIN FROM EITHER SIDE. In all such affairs there must be equality of chance or skill or compensation where one skill is greater than another so that there is equality in what will be done. Personal attacks are to be ENDED.


Other Rules and Bylaws

If a State Chapter meeting needs such, Robert's Rules of Order may be used.

Also a simple 'each member has 5 minutes to talk' rule may be put in place, with individuals handing their minutes to others that can more easily speak and express ideas and then multi-round voting on ideas until a winner or usable idea is confirmed by a two-thirds majority, with minority ideas being represented and passed upon and their percentages recorded or actual vote totals.

In all cases the Put-up or Shut-up rule shall be enforced.

Whenever a position is taken that does not clearly express where it comes from or how it is an honorable stance via Citizenship and the simple precepts of Jacksonianism, such members will be asked to demonstrate their idea in writing and distribute such electronically.

Any that run for office shall have their own minor organization to run for that office and will have accounts the members of the Party may pay into if they support that individual.

As The Jacksonian Party itself, in conception, has no standing office, no standing president or presiding officer and only a ruling council made up of all of those who are Party Members, the only need for remuneration shall be for Party functions and meetings. A simple set attendance fee by those wishing to bring the meeting together shall be established and set upon interest: if a member expresses interest they shall be expected to pay for attendance even if they are unable to attend. Members who did not express interest, but attend, are expected to *chip in* funds or other goods to help the overall meeting. Excess money shall be refunded proportionately to all those members who paid for attendance. The Jacksonian Party has NO PARTY TREASURY to be ruled over. Indeed there is no way to abscond with Party funds, save thefting them from individuals running events.

The Jacksonian Party is that of cooperative simplicity in things, be they personal affairs or international problems. This scales well and nearly perfectly across the board once applied and needs no other complication upon it.


Listing of Pertinent Reading

The following is a listing of the founding member of the Party of 1 to all others seeking to join their Party of 1 together with the original or to set their own networked Party of 1 up for others to join and grow:

The USS Clueless, considered the online cornerstone of Jacksonian expression. Use the search engine on that site for relevant terms. A copy of its archives are available for download.

My view of the Preamble to the Constitution and what it enjoins Citizens to do via responsibilities.

A Nation of Individuals as We the People, not Groups and why that is important.

My view on the Electorate of the United States after Jacksonians were read out of the Democratic party. An early conception of using the Republican party as a basis for Jacksonian conceptions, but that party is now seen as too inherently flawed and compromised to serve such a function.

Precepts of Jacksonianism as seen by the author.

Why The Jacksonian Party takes the direct approach.

A first quick outline of the Federal government that adheres ONLY to what it was meant to have.

A 20 point Jacksonian Domestic Policy.

A Jacksonian Foreign Policy that anyone can understand.

Goals on the Global War on Terrorism, something NO OTHER PARTY has.

Using the Congressional Powers in the Global War on Terror.

The Congressional Role in Warfare, a more thorough explaining of the previous.

Why empowering the People to eliminate distributed enemies is a better idea in the modern age.

Make laws to follow the Constitutional example of Intent and Content, and let Intent guide.

A 21st century energy independence policy that moves beyond non-renewables and agriculture.

Reforming the House of Representatives to enable maximal representation and remove sinecured seats set by the two party system.

Hitting the Federal Government RESET button, a goal of The Jacksonian Party once in a position to do so, so as to get it down to the least possible government that is needed to govern.

Making paying for education ACCOUNTABLE. If the People really want the Federal Government to pony up money, it damn well better get RESULTS.

Ending Sanctuary Cities as slavery zones so as to save the Union.

From Securing the Borders to The Jacksonian Party, why The Jacksonian Party is necessary today.

What an effective and deadly border security wall and firing system would consist of and how it would work.

Ending NAFTA so that Free Trade supports the United States and does not harm us in the modern era.

The simple proposition on 'guest workers': Can't need them if we still have unemployment!

The coming War With Mexico.

Reformulating the Intelligence Community so it can join the 21st Century.

Why Iran cannot be contained like the Cold War.

For the State Chapters to Consider:

On Amendment II and what the States can do to build upon it.

How a State could give full due process and authority to those who know how to use arms.

Why States would use Amendment II and Article I provisions to re-inforce both of them so the State would be more secure and enhance all the Rights involved.

States have the right to properly determine Citizenship as given in Roe v. Wade, thus ending the abortion debate.

More on the Roe v. Wade case and how poorly thought out it was, and still could be very useful.

Why the Jacksonian Party takes the direct approach

This is a outlook statement by The Jacksonian Party.

Many people complain that Jacksonians are either too easy-going or damn bloodthirsty, and cannot, for the life of them, figure out which response they will get whenever something is brought up. So, to help explain a few things, let me bring you this tidbit of common sense that I *always* thought was obvious.

On a look at the iceberg that the Titanic struck it always seemed to me that the obvious was overlooked. And an expert in maritime safety finally brought the problem out to the public, because it *is* obvious but extremely counter-intuitive. The main reason the Titanic sank was that it suffered severe and multiple compartment breaches simultaneously which ruined the integrity of the ship beyond containment. Indeed, many of the center sections of the ship did not have containment features that extended from keel to upper superstructure, but were stopped short of the upper decks. This was a major problem as flooding overtopped those decks and made the sinking a fatal fact, which a basic design change could have mitigated. In theory the Titanic was meant to serve as its own lifeboat, once swamped in multiple sections, but no one envisioned the ship going at any great speed when such happened.

But, back to the iceberg.

The maritime expert succinctly said [and I paraphrase]: 'British shipping Captains wanted to sustain as little damage as possible to their vessels and so the decision to avoid the iceberg was one that made sense given normal iceberg size for those waters. However, they knew that this was a heavier than usual iceberg season and that many bergs to even get that far south had to be very large. So the instinct to avoid the iceberg was fatal. If the Titanic had simply HIT the berg straight on, the ship would have come to a complete halt, dishes and glassware would go flying about, people would have injuries and only the front compartment or two would have sustained damage. They would be 'crumple zones' and were not used and would be missed by no one. The Titanic would have sustained damage it could mitigate via its containment system and once the flooding was contained it could back off and then steam slowly into port. A bit late, but having survived the impact with few permanent injuries to people. By trying to avoid damage the Captain sealed the fate of the ship.'

Trying to avoid a head-on collision will often end up with you heading at high speed into the wilderness, not a good idea. And if both drivers choose the same side to avoid a collision, then you get all sorts of fun physics added into heading off into the wilderness. If you both choose correctly, it can be avoided. But if you are piloting something a bit larger and less amenable to course change, it is often better to just 'stay the course' put the engines on STOP and let it happen.

That is the basic attitude towards things: let others choose as they may, but stay a set course and deal with things as necessary. By trying to avoid damage, things can actually be made much, much worse. The nimble Republic of the early days is gone and the ship of state is now huge and unwieldy to guide. The course of remaining a Sovereign Nation State with Republican government via representative democracy was set at the founding of the Nation. As the vessel grew in size and power, its nimbleness started to disappear, and as more functions got added to the Government its ability to chart course became bogged down.

Today we have a huge Federal government, with all sorts of things welded onto it that it was never meant to have. And today the very groups in charge in the Government want to *mitigate* damage by trying to avoid it. A large Nation can take a direct smack into an obstacle and survive, assess the damage, do necessary repairs and then get under way again at a slower pace. Avoiding the collision will be the end of the Republic as it takes multiple breaches below the waterline and the old compartment system has become so degraded that it no longer serves its function of containing damage.

Ploughing head-on into the immigration problem would be re-stating the Sovereignty of the American People to have their Own Nation and determine who does and does not get to be invited into the Republic. By not adhering to that, the very law abiding structure of the vessel is degraded to the point of becoming near anarchy. With municipalities and some cities declaring their own immigration policy, the old rift over slavery is being brought back to undermine the Republic *again*. This tears at the very foundation of the Republic and its separation of rights and powers.

By trying to take in millions of unassimilated individuals who have no respect for National Sovereignty the very fabric that allows this Nation to be a Republic is ripped asunder. To come here *seeking* a law abiding Nation by breaking its Laws, that social fabric is degraded and respect for the Law itself is diminished.

With the Federal government actually *subsidizing* and *protecting* poorly designed agricultural areas, the influx of people here illegally is subsidized, also. The Tax dollars of the People go to undermine the Republic, thusly. We become diminished in economic power by not forcing businesses to cope with a modern marketplace that is global in concern. Free trade that goes to actually *support* enemies or those that wish no good of the Republic, further deteriorates the concept of National Sovereignty and Self-Determination.

Wars are NOT fought on 'a dimmer switch' and should be pursued until a conclusion and then help given to those that have suffered under Tyranny. If they see the United States as a People that respect self-determination in others, we expect such in return. If the hand of friendship is slapped away, then it is *not* extended again until amends are made by the one doing the slapping. Wars without goals are fruitless and useless. Wars must have clear statements and have a conclusive capability within them. The Cold War had such and was a bitter and long fought struggle that drained this Nation and *still* it remained and increased its power and capacity as compared to all other industrial powers on the planet. The War on Transnational Terrorism may take as long, but the Goals needs be clearly stated: end the fool idea that you can win through killing and intimidation against the Free People of the United States.

But that has not been done by any Individual seeking high office nor by any Party within the Republic save this one. Goals need not be: reach the capital of thus and such country to win. Although such are helpful and necessary, they are not the typical ones of this struggle. Make no bones about it, this is a struggle for maintaining the very concept of the Nation State and the Civilization it supports. Transnationalism eats away at the Nation State concept to put Authoritarianism in its place. Be they *Progressives* or *Terrorists* their goal to end the system of National States are THE SAME.

This pernicious idea threatens the very Freedoms that this Nation fought long and hard for to get and retain. And yet many would just give them away for temporary security by 'welcoming in foreign workers' and not dealing with terrorism AT ALL. Both of these are symptoms of Transnationalism, which puts forward that no one Nation is better than any other and that there are NO special values in once culture as compared to another.

By not being able to discriminate and differentiate between peoples based on their outlook and actions, Transnationalism seeks to homogenize humanity and ensure that nothing special is left about it. Literally there would be no value at all placed on one individual over another, and criminals and victims would both have the exact same status. To those not realizing it, this is all of it, from top to bottom, Transnationalism. The United States is a threat to Transnationalism because we still believe in the Specialness of Our Nation. They seek to end that via changing the government into one that is more socialist and have succeeded over the years in grafting on strange appendages which now change education, agriculture, industrial policy and, now, immigration policy and warfighting policy.

Jacksonians believe in the Individual and the Rights of the Individual to exist within a compact as set up by the Constitution. There is a specialness in that ALONE, to let people's thoughts and action guide their destiny for good or ill. It is recognized that fate and fortune can hand unkindly circumstances and giving a help out of such is for the common good. But becoming dependent upon that is a social ill that degrades the very fabric of personal freedom. We have been taught that a 'social safety net' is a good thing so as to absolve people of their individual choices when they go for ill. By not letting them hit the ground and learning the hard lessons of making bad choices there is no education via experience. A Big Brother government that saves everyone also destroys everyone to make them all perfectly and exactly equal before the ever present State.

Transnationalists preach about all the *good* a State can do. They forget to inform you that your rights are limited to those ALLOWED by that State so it can do its necessary good. Once a State can be all-powerful it can take everything from the Individual and that must be stopped.

The best way to stop such is to let the ship of State plough directly into the problems facing it by adhering to the course that was set by the Founders.

Maintain National Sovereignty so that a free People can remain free.

Give honor and friendship to those Nations that give the same to Ours and help them freely to achieve *their* greatness, which will not diminish Ours if they truly be friends.

To those that wish us neither good nor ill, return the same with a gentle chillness and let them see the good Actions of the American People in helping those that are Our Friends. Demonstrate by *doing* not by *preaching*.

And to Our enemies: they will be hounded and fought until they are either dead or have surrendered. No Vietnam wars 'on a dimmer' switch. No stopping half-way after 100 hours on a job just barely started. And no piddling away the Nation's resources on far off struggles of foreign peoples, neither side of which have ever shown much interest in Our Nation. While the latter may seem *necessary* in light of the genocide of the Second World War, it should be pointed out that no one doing that pontificating has had the actual guts to commit their Nation to doing such.

If you want the United States to be the 'World's Policeman' you had better damn well pay us and let us deal as necessary with wrongdoers and then DO NOT CRITICIZE US if everything does not turn out just absolutely perfect. Otherwise we shall stick with what is necessary to keep a free People free, and let foreign folks do as they will as is their RIGHT.

Yes, sail the ship of the United States DIRECTLY into the iceberg. We can recover and seal the breaches and get under way again once the repairs are made. I expect the iceberg to shatter due to the size of the ship hitting it.

Do NOT try to mitigate things and *avoid* damage.

That will, assuredly, be the end of the Republic if it continues.

Supporting Jacksonianism

The Jacksonian Party! Well, if the Democrats cannot stand for Democracy and the Republicans for the Republic, perhaps Jacksonians *should* have a party! BBQ and beer, anyone?

Lets face it, the traditional pary system has failed the electorate by making the House a land of sinecured seats that are guaranteed not to change so long as the electorate is dis-enchanted with the two parties. Believe it or not, that IS the goal: to stop YOU from wanting to vote!

So, the very first thing any Jacksonian *must* do is register to vote. And then exercise your damn franchise even if it is to show up at the voting booth and cast a BLANK BALLOT! Believe it or not that is perfectly acceptable in these United States. You can register the vote of *present*. Meaning you found the entire damn slate of all individuals unacceptable from all parties! And, contrary to popular belief, that is not: 'throwing away your vote', 'ensuring someone you don't like will get in' or 'plain stupid'. On the contrary it is a positive vote to say that you have had ENOUGH of these jokers and want nothing to do with any of them and that your vote must be WON.

And on election night coverage ensure that the TOTAL VOTE COUNT is given so that the true proportion of representation is accounted for. Because the system is set up for only winners and losers, not for reporting how the electorate actually votes.

It takes a LOT of courage to tell people that you are absolutely disgusted with the Zero Party System. And even more when asked why you do not vote for thus-and-so, to say that the Party that person is part of has no good interest of the United States at heart. One Citizen exercising their civic duties and responsibilities can change things... today's electronic media allows for that change to spread by word of mouth. By telling others your position and *why* you are taking it and *what* you want to see instead.

It does absolutely no good at all to just vituperate. You can get that 24/7 on talk radio and television. What these media cannot do, as they are not interactive, is FIND SOLUTIONS. That is up to You the voter, the Citizen. If you cannot offer a solution, no matter how ill thought out, then perhaps you just might want to close your mouth for a bit and find one. Then go out and when you show your emotions you can *also* show that you have actually put some THOUGHT into why what the hell is going on is awful and to offer something to replace it. I just aim for something *better* as that allows for the next generation to build upon it. Perfection is neither desireable nor necessary, just something to get things working well enough to keep the Republic whole.
We are enjoined to make 'a more perfect Union'. And so each of us must understand that just letting raw emotions reign freely do NOTHING to build the Union. If such were the case we would be in heaven now, as that is exactly what is going on in the world today. The way to end it is to shoot back with something ELSE. Ideas make this Nation great. The United States is *still* the most revolutionary Nation on the planet as it entrusts the People with every right and then has a compact that allows a few things that government may have to GOVERN, not to *rule* or *reign*. Giving government more than that, be it from fear or from the idea that 'government can do it better', is just plain nonsense for the Republic. This Nation was founded by Individuals as a common People of the Nation to come together to govern themselves with the least amount of overhead necessary. Every time someone tries to point out a problem or social ill that is not being properly addressed, they are trying to belittle Your input into the system and let you pass the buck up to the government because you are 'not smart enough' to deal with it yourself. If you want rule by *experts* go to France. Do not let anyone snowjob you or bully you into giving up your rights to any damn government without having a hard say on how those rights are used.


The basics of Jacksonianism are simple: give honor where it is given or due, give friendship in return for same, leave others be if they let you be, and if any seek to harm you or bring down the nation, they will get no quarter. The best government is the most accountable and that is LOCAL government. Keeping problems close to home means that you must take up your burden as a Citizen and address them. That means coming up with solutions and *not* passing the buck. If you pass the buck and don't like the outcome, then do NOT bother those who actually did think it out. You are accountable for your actions, and if you let everyone else decide FOR YOU, then your right to complain is gone unless you offer something *better*.

You have a whole load of rights as a Citizen in this Nation. For all of them you are responsible for their use and accountable when you use them. If you freely exercise your rights and do not like the outcome of the overall choice, then you may hold the Citizens and government accountable for that decision. If you stay at home, whine and complain and do NOT vote, then please do not bother the *responsible* Citizens of the Republic with your sloth. You have gotten *exactly* what you deserve.

For more accountability on the Federal level, I seek to get the People's House back in the realm of the People and not sinecured seats for the Royalty of the Two Party system. Letting the House decide its own size is sheer nonsense and must be ended. In the modern day and age, electronic media and communications makes feasible a maximum size House of Representatives to give the greatest representation to the People. This brings accountability down to something that can be seen and recognized, and a single vote actually matters quite a bit with a maximum House. The very foundation of this Nation is that Representative government must be highly accountable and that the House of Representatives was supposed to be the House of the Common Man. All sorts of things were supposed to be put into play there and seen if they make any sense for the Nation. Instead it is now the House of Royalty and cannot be broken into except by support of a system that does not act Representatively.

So what can YOU the Citizen do?

Well, first thing is identify if any of the writings on the Jacksonian Party or other things referenced make any sense at all to you. Being a Jacksonian means that you do keep your temper, give people a chance to have their say, and ask for the same in return. If you cannot marshal your own emotions and thoughts, then you will have a hard time making yourself heard above the cacophony of people doing just that. Being a Jacksonian means that you will give honor where it is due and support those who give you their honor. Even if you *disagree* with them, if others can find the openness to speak freely and openly and be willing to disagree but not stage personal or other low attacks, then you have *no* cause to do so. Save your powder for those that need shooting.

Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it. - Andrew Jackson

Jacksonianism is not Small Government Conservatism. Jacksonianism is about the leanest government necessary to govern and not one thing more than that. Individuals are to shoulder the burden of making decisions in society. If you, personally, do not think about topics or vote according to your beliefs, then why do you think that complaining about what gets done is valid? The emotional display of such is ruining the public square and meeting place in society today. Personally I cannot honor everything done by every Agency in the name of the People. In point of fact there are only a few Agencies and Departments within the government that I actually respect and see as necessary for governing. By making our government poke its nose into anything that seems necessary, it becomes diffuse and difficult to hold accountable. Government *must* be accountable for its activities for it to gain my honoring of it. That is currently not the case in these United States for this individual, at least.

Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error. - Andrew Jackson

And if you are wrong, then own up to it immediately and apologize! If you unknowingly disparage someone's character or their person without full thought as to what you did, then do the adult thing: APOLOGIZE. That is what adults DO.

Children throw temper tantrums, scream at the top of their lungs and use their feelings to try and twist others to their will to get their way. Adults recognizes this and do *not* accept it. And when someone tries to brand YOU with a label, you must realize that they are doing the exact same thing as a child: they are tagging you with emotions to try and twist you to their will. Keep your temper and even head and you will always be on firm ground. Do NOT let opponents change the debate on *anything* to a side-issue. That must be called out immediately and either ask to show how the issue relates or put it aside for another discussion. Wronging someone unintentionally is NOT the same thing as calling an activity by its proper name. If the name fits the activity, then it is applied. Do not disparage thought or goals by applying labels, as that is an attempt at thought control and despicable .

Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equitable and lasting terms. - Andrew Jackson

As it goes within the Nation, so does a Jacksonian see it amongst Nations. Honor and Friendship where it is given, live and let live for the rest, save those that are your declared enemy or hostile. They need to be kept at bay and fought if they leave no other recourse. Again, a simple concept, but in the enaction one that enriches friends and ensures that there is commonality with them.


So those are my thoughts on Jacksonianism and this place. A Jacksonian party can be started here, but it would be one of disorganization, chaos and no small amount of back-and-forthing. Truthfully as a moderator of such my abilities are limited. I would seek for individuals to act as Adults and Citizens and open up their minds to finding ways to keep the Republic whole and enrich it. Denouncing something without showing *why* it would not work and then offering something that *will* is not allowed.

That is the 'Put up or shut up rule'. Vituperate but only if you can think of something better or a better approach. You do have freedom of speech, but responsibility to the Republic, also.

Personal attacks are to be taken by those wanting them off-site. You do not air dirty laundry in public. If you cannot take care of something between yourself and one that you feel has slighted you, then do *not* seek the support of others in your quest for justice. Because if you do otherwise you will be seen as children unable to control your temper and act reasonably. Agreeing to disagree is one thing. Villifying someone because they don't agree with you is something totally other and best left for the schoolyard bullies.

In truth I have no conception on how to even run a 'blogroll' or 'webring' or any other such thing. I am not a leader nor even a good representative, all I am capable of is finding solutions to problems... I am *good* at that. Beyond that, I am absolutely horrible at running social concerns. So perhaps this can be put to use, or perhaps not. And my health will always be up and down over time and undependable even hour to hour. So the energy needed for doing more is also beyond me.

I do not forget that I am a mechanic. I am proud to own it. Neither do I forget that... the apostle Paul was a tentmaker; Socrates was a sculptor; and Archimedes was a mechanic. - Andrew Jackson

I am open to suggestions, articles or anything of that nature...

Do remember that if you point your finger in accusation, three more point to you as accuser and one to the ground. If you do nothing to build you will be seen as one who could only vituperate and never give and that last finger should remind you of your place once gone. If you offer nothing better, then perhaps it is time to be quiet and think upon what disquiets you... and find a way that will work for it to stop. A way that Builds a Republic and keeps the Union whole under the compact between us known as the Constitution.

That is what it means to be a Citizen.

And a Jacksonian.

Ending NAFTA

The following is a position paper of the Jacksonian Party.

Free trade, in conception, will free up markets, expand production and generally, make goods cheaper to nations that do so. That is the theory.

In reality, with NAFTA we have seen an export of Mexican unemployment northwards to the US and Canada. This means that out of work people in Mexico and points south have headed north to take jobs from Citizens of more wealthy nations. Some would say this is 'economic justice', but, in reality, it is subsidizing nations that have no inclination to build a stable manufacturing based economy for their own people. This is paying nations to behave irresponsibly *and* taking the burden of such out of their hands. Further, it erodes the concept of National Sovereignty and National self-determination.

NAFTA had promised to usher in an era of increased industrial expansion and re-distribution of goods production across North America. Instead, Mexico remains a basketcase dependent upon oil and the other parts of north america for sustenance. The US and Canada have seen an influx of poor individuals who do not obey the law and are, in fact, encouraged by their government to do as they are doing. This is anathema to the concept of National Sovereignty and so must end.

As part of the Jacksonian Foreign policy is the concept that Free Trade shall take place only with Foreign Nations that have demonstrated long-term support and understanding of these United States. Mexico, at this point, has not done so and, in fact, has violated the US national borders on a frequent basis with Federal Police and Military crossing at-will. Further, Mexico shows no desire at all to stop illegal entry into the US nor to plug its own migration problems and combat terrorism. This will lead to trouble if it has not already become the cause of future trouble already. As a Nation Mexico has failed the test of being a Friend of the American People. Only Foreign Nations that respect the American People and the United States, support us in our world affairs and give us help when it is needed shall be considered as good Nations to have Free Trade with.

Free Trade with Mexico must end.

And as they will not respect the National Sovereignty of the US, we must close all illegal entry to the US from Mexico. As they do not live up to their Treaty obligations they must be considered a state that is Neutral to the United States. As they have continually and at will crossed and sent agents of their Government across the border, Mexico must be deemed to be hostile to the American interest of self-determination. It is *not* an enemy of the United States, but it does not have the long term welfare and help of the United States as its goal as demonstrated by its ACTIONS.

As part of a new Free Trade set of Treaties, the following Foreign Nations should be offered Free Trade agreements with the United States:

The United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
Japan
Israel
Taiwan - Red China can have its fits, I truly do not care. The worlds largest market can learn to suck it up or get red in the face. Taiwan has been a steadfast friend of the American People for long decades and should be duly rewarded.
Poland
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Iceland
Iraq
Afghanistan
India - In 3-5 years if shown to be a good trading partner, having some differences but no hostility to US interests and generally being helpful. Perhaps a 2.5% tariff scale down per year until it gets to 1% or so and final determination then.
Denmark


If any of the former Soviet Republics have demonstrated good will, adherance to democratic principles and have been friendly and helpful to the US, they should be considered on a case-by-case basis. I would seriously consider Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia immediately for such.

Everyone else gets a tariff on goods and services coming to the US of 10%. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The US should be damn serious about spreading Free Markets to FRIENDS of the US and encouraging friendly behaviour by limiting freeloaders sucking jobs and economic capability from the US economy.

The following Nations the US shall have no commerce with:

Cuba
North Korea
Iran
Syria
Libya
Sudan
Rwanda
Zimbabwe


Free trade everywhere patently will not work as it will support Nations hostile to the United States. It will also support Transnational Terrorists as they do not respect National concpets and will live off the fruits of American labor if Free Trade is not held accountable to enforcing the concepts of National Sovereignty.

With the right of Free Trade comes Accountability and Responsibility.

Mexico has shown neither accountability nor responsibility as a partner. It is time for them to be considered Neutral to the United States.

The Federal Government's RESET button

The following is an article of personal beliefs and not to be interpreted as an Official Statement of The Jacksonian Party.

To any who have read a fraction of my works on the way the Nation is currently being run, you are probably coming to the conclusion that there is not much trust in the way things are currently being done. From the economy to foreign affairs to National security to effectively fighting a distributed war against a foe using asymmetrical warfare: there is too much hinderance of all things and while checks and balances are *good* when there is immense inertia, then any minor check becomes a show-stopper. That is my attitude towards the Federal Government in this day and age. It is too large to govern effectively on anything at all.

Through the years things that had once been a realm of the States and Individuals was booted up to the Federal Government to 'take care of things'. Thus a laundry list of items began to adhere to the Government and accountability, which had rested at lower levels, got lost in the bureaucracy needed to address a Nation. Lets look at just a few examples:

1) Social Security - More than just a retirement and disability system, this system was used to churn older workers out of active economic work. This made good sense during the Depression, with so many out of work, and a short Government stipend to tide one over between retirement and death was a help. Demographics, even without the Baby Boom, would have caused the system problems as people started to live longer lives, require more end-of-life care and generally need to be supported by fewer workers in the workforce. The demographic balance would become top-heavy in any Nation undergoing such and the Baby Boom just slaps across the face much harder. So, the question is, why is there now a *need* for Social Security?

Today Americans that have any income invest, even in meager amounts, in mutual funds. With a broad investment plan, both for domestic and foreign companies, only *another* worldwide Depression would bring massive problems to the such investments. True, such investments are not secured, unless one buys an insurance policy on such (have you?). But life, itself, is not *secured*, and one can die at home slipping in the bathtub as easily as from old age. Americans have learned to 'manage risk', and only the truly destitute need a helping hand *up* from poverty, not a dole to be given indefinitely. I address the concept of a Federal Medical Service to help the destitute and poor and elderly if they cannot afford medication, and make the Government a bulk-buyer of medications to get a very steep discount. Pharmaceutical companies would have a difficult time gouging the Government when given a steady stream of production and profit. Perhaps not as *much* profit, but then one need not go through the Government to get medications, either. And the overall savings would be passed to independent medical plans that serve the Government, and private plans could also avail themselves of this. Strangely enough this is a form of regulation on Interstate Commerce to serve the General Welfare, and I really do not have a problem with such. Lean Government need not be destructive or amiss in its duties, but it also need not try to over-regulate the entire country.

2) Department of Labor - So, what does this do that is critical to the modern day economy? Give health and safety guidelines? Workplace guidelines? Set wages for certain job categories? Is a Dept. of Labor even necessary? It would appear that there are many groups inside the Government capable of doing some of the above (safety to NIST, health to NIH, workplace guidelines and payscales - are these necessary?) and Equal Employment Opportunity sounds like a Dept. of Justice thing. Bulk it up by a division and wipe out the entire Dept. of Labor. It served a purpose in days of yore to ensure equality of consideration for jobs and fair pay, but those days are basically over with individuals switching jobs, job categories and entire careers multiple times in their lives. Time to end this appendage and distribute the few necessary things out to other places.

3) NASA - This place was set up to keep space and aerosciences up with the USSR during the Cold War. Today it has outmoded craft, more bureaucrats than engineers and is an active hinderance to actually getting safe and affordable space travel. If the equivalent of NASA had been around in 1903, we would still be looking at this idea of a 'metal skin monoplane'. It served its political purpose, and for science it does a fairly decent job. Force it to buy Commercial Off The Shelf for everything save a few probes, and get it out of the rocketry engineering business. Institute a prize system to encourage new industries to overtake the current wheezing giants that slumber in the aerospace field. The dawn of the Space Age is over... so why are we still stuck on Earth for everything except satellite communications? Take any 30 year period of the aircraft industry and compare it to advances made the last 30 years with NASA. It is time for this to go. Meld it in with the National Academy of Science and/or the Air Force.

4) Dept. of Energy - It hasn't come up with anything since nuclear reactors, and those are flawed designs. The US now lags behind nuclear design and safety compared to the rest of the world and that black mark sits solely with this Dept. Also, where are all the good alternatives promised in the 1970's? Pare off the nuclear component, give it to military and the R&D to the National Academy of Science. Nuclear waste? That is why we *have* an Army Corps of Engineers! Maybe not the best folks on the planet, but compared to the Dept. of Energy, they should be able to cope with this. Bring in the NAS for vitrification at high pressures and look at subduction zone burial. Once you are below the carbon-compensation depth, nothing lives down there, anyways.

5) Dept. of Agriculture - If Big Agribusiness hasn't figured out how to farm properly, then they deserve to go out of business. Food inspection? Looks like a Food and Drug Administration baliwick, give them a couple of extra divisions and share resources with the States Departements of Agriculture. Also, this will end all of the subsidies to agriculture. Good! Cheap food is too expensive to maintain, better to get it on the global market at a lower price and let the land be used more profitably for other things.

6) Small Business Administration - It seems there are plenty of opportunities to start and keep small businesses going without the Government getting in the way. Give businesses under 50 people a higher score on Federal contracts and be done with it. If people in this day and age cannot figure out how to open a small business, then they probably aren't competent enough to *run it*.

7) Dept. of Education - Johnny had problems reading in 1958. Lots of money went to various departments to help. It didn't. The Dept. of Education was started in 1980 to help. It hasn't. Block grant and put in hard testing standards and proportional payments for reaching the top or exceeding it. End the bureaucracy which has not helped one bit as the reading percentages stay the same year after year, decade after decade. This is a State and local affair, anyway, education is *not* Constitutionally mandated.

8) IRS - Taxation is a mess that no one can figure out. Flat tax across the board, no exemptions and no loopholes. Scrap the entire taxcode. Make businesses pay on their income minus salaries and wages, and then at the same rate as individuals. End this mess, and pare down the IRS to a basic receiving and data entry unit. Tax only income and salaries. Put tariffs upon Nations we do not Like.

Basically one gets the idea that I am *not* a Small Government Conservative. I am a *spare and lean* Government Jacksonian who wants over-regulation out of my life while having just a few assurances that in a catastrophe there *might* be some help, but that I am basically on my own. I started out my working career in bad health and planned accordingly. If people in *good* and *robust* health did so, they would be able to retire at an early age on investments. The Socialist Nanny State is an anathema to a free people and their liberty. Everytime the Federal Government gets handed something to do that the People do not have the stomach to do, some more liberty goes away.

To those who keep repeating Ben Franklin's: "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

I must ask a rejoinder: What do those get that give up their liberty for NO security or just recompense?

For that is what the People do every time the Federal Government is given something to do that is properly with the States and the People. You give up the liberty of personal decision to a bureaucrat, and then complain bitterly that they are not as good as you at making a decision.

So *stop* giving them things to decide upon! It is really and truly, just that simple. Say so with your voice, your money and your vote. Statist economies and politics looked to be all the rage in the 1930's, with Communism and National Socialism taking things under their reign... and diving the world into war. When one hands power to a bureaucrat, some of your liberty and right to Guide the Nation goes with it. Nation States are horrible at running economies and managing liberty. The more Authoritarian or Totalitarian, the worse they become, and the harsher they are towards their own people. That is *why* the Constitution vests NO rights with the Government save those few necessary to *govern*. Govern. NOT RULE.

The Second World War required a coordinated Nation to survive. And it did so, but at the cost of the People forgetting that before the war we were actually *climbing* out of the Depression, that businesses were hiring and that things were turning around IN SPITE OF the work done by the Federal Government. Today we are for more well educated, understand economics far better and know that the source of the strength of this Nation are in its People and small businesses. We are, however, saddled with these Socialist appendages that are twisting this Nation from one of Individuals to one of Groups. By giving Groups rights that Individuals do *not* have, we lose liberty and freedom faster. Groups should *not* have the right to try and pass laws against free speech or free thought, nor to suck up vital income from the Government that rightly belongs to the People..

What we need is a Federal Government RESET button to push. A valid and viable way to change this Nation back into something the Founders would be proud of. A Nation of Individuals leading free lives with as little governance as possible and as much responsibility and accountability on the shoulders of the People themselves where it rightly belongs. By giving the responsibility and accountability to the Government it is poorly addressed, mismanaged and takes the liberty from you as 'just another thing I can't do something about'. That is how a Socialist speaks. If you find yourself complaining against the Government, realize that the very complaint against the Government for something that was the individual's responsibility is a Socialist one. By getting in this mindset we are now at peril of losing the very concept of Our Nation.

As Individuals we can change that. Not just through the old and tired protests and gatherings and marches... but through the process of political change and spreading ideas.

Do NOT give any support to any party that sees taking responsibility and accountability from the Individual as a *good thing*.

Do not support individuals running for office that do same.

And DO talk to your fellow Citizens and hash out what really needs to be done locally, state-wide and federally.

There are those that would welcome a Socialist Nanny State. One that takes care of you like a Big Brother from cradle to grave... so you won't have any difficult decisions in your life.

And soon, no decisions at all.