> On Monday, February 9, 2004, at 03:22 PM, Jim Farmelant wrote:
>
>> 1. the Constitution, which favors the two-party
>> system; "the American," he wrote, "...does not
>> want to throw away his vote [on minor parties
>> with no chance of winning]";
>
> But at least Socialist parties can have some impact on the ideas that
> filter into the programs of one or another major party. That used to
> happen early in the 20th century. Why not now?
My left-liberal Mom's one Republican lover (only a few months tank gawd!)after divorcing my Dad, was this guy named Mark, that she and I would argue politics into the late hrs with. He gave her a copy of Milton Friedman's bestseller, "Free To Choose." The appendix reprinted the Socialist Party, Minimum Program for 1912. Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and a slew of other policies and programs implemented by the New Deal during great class struggles. -- Michael Pugliese