The Second Class Status of Independent Voters

In such a heavily controlled political environment where entrenched parties have their way with the America people, lots of voters are declaring their independence. Bob Fliegel answers his own question in his letter below (and those are some pretty good reasons!), and Paul Krugman insults the sector of the electorate that gives voice to the need for innovation and new policy.

Meanwile, the Committee for a Unified Independent Party/ IndependentVoting.org
has launched a campaign calling for Congressional hearings on the second class status of indies -- the purpose is two-fold:  1) To educate Congress and shine a light on the effect of partisan control of the election process, namely that 40% of Americans have a second class status; and 2) to urge Congress to investigate these biases by holding hearings.

• Letter: Independent voters make party choices (By BOB FLIEGEL , St. Augustine.com) If truth be told, the typical independent is already strongly predisposed to vote for candidates of the same party and will always do so 99 percent of the time. Why then do they shrink from acknowledging their de facto party allegiance and seek refuge in the independent label?
• Psychodrama Queens (Paul Krugman, NY Times/The Conscience of a Liberal) Oh, and about independent voters: if you think that they’re strong-minded, solid citizens repelled by the partisanship — well, there may be a guy like that somewhere in America. But by and large, given the vast differences between the parties these days, independent voters are basically confused, clueless people — not exactly the kind of people likely to take reassurance from Obama’s stance on entitlement programs. On the contrary, they’re the sort of people likely to be stampeded by “Obama wants to raise the Medicare age!”
• Congressional Hearings on Second Class Status of Independent Voters (IndependentVoting.org) New York County Independence Party Chair Cathy Stewart, and Vice Chair, Alvaader Frazier, Esq. met with Congressman Edolphus Towns.  Rep. Towns from Brooklyn, who is a member of the Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Managementva, unhesitantly said that he would like to help, that Congress should hold hearings to explore the barriers independents face, and that it is important to work to expand the number of people that are participating. Read our campaign's first newsletter here for more about what's going on around the country.