Profiles: Political Perspectives, Taxation is a Crime and Revolutionary Independent

Over the past few weeks, I have come across a number of blogs that might be of interest to regular readers here at Poli-Tea and are definitely worth checking out:

• Political Perspectives is maintained by Stephen Lahanas, who is running as an independent candidate for US Senate in Ohio. In the site's mission statement, we read:

Our focus for the magazine is to present a spectrum of Independent, partisan and non-partisan viewpoints on a wide variety of issues from outside of the Beltway. We believe that "business as usual" is no longer a viable strategy for American Governance - it's time for a real change; a change not just in personalities but in political process.

Lahanas has recently begun a series of posts on populist legislative initiatives. He writes:

Reform may start with Lobbying and Campaign Reform, but there is much more to a Populist agenda or platform than that. The New Populism recognizes that the government must work with and for the people, not against them.

• Taxation is a Crime is a relatively new blog, begun last October, which holds that "taxation violates the non-aggression principle." The site calls for numerous political reforms, including voting reform, and makes a strong case for proportional representation based on reasoned critique of plurality voting:

First Past The Post means we must vote for a party we don't like . . . If power transfers to one party, exclusively, the rest of the population is at their whim. With a majority, they rule absolutely. Proportional Representation would mean that even the dominant parties would be required to compromise when in power. And voters would be better able to ensure that the party (philosophy) that they support is heard. Many votes go to the main parties that are cast by persons that do not share complete agreement with the party. Cast reluctantly, with regret in the hope that the recipient, the party, does not act too far outside the expectations of the voter.

• Finally, Revolutionary Independent wants to "take the politics out of politics" and calls for "revolutionary democracy":

Revolutionary Democracy sees the multinational corporations, imperialism and a new form of colonialism as the harbingers of a world crisis. It is time for the people to take control of their lives and their country. The people must demand and get accountability from their representatives, something they have none of today. Time for the people to step up to the plate and learn to play ball; to take the decision making out of the hands of millionaires and put into the hands of the people. A time for participatory democracy, where all lead and all govern.