Independence Party, an Analysis

State Committee:
The 62 counties of New York State contain a total of 150 Assembly Districts (or ADs) of which one Male and one Female from each AD  (300 IP enrolled voters in all) are elected as District Leaders in (even year) Primary  Elections; 300 District Leaders – who serve 2 year terms - make up the State Committee (at least on paper.)   The State Committee in turn elects an Executive Committee and Chairman to administer the Independence Party’s day to day affairs.

District Leaders:
The District Leaders are invested with weighted-votes; that is, each has as many votes as votes cast for governor ( not necessarily the winning governor ) on the party’s ballot line, in the District Leader’s district, during the previous Gubernatorial Election.  For example: in 2010, 825 votes for Andrew M. Cuomo were cast on the Independence Party ballot line in the 28th AD in Queens County,  therefore, the male and female District Leaders from the 28th AD each have 825 votes on the Independence Party State Committee.

Proxy Statements:
Since the First Continental Congress and thereafter, elected representatives had to be seated as a deliberative body to personally cast a vote and those not in attendance (without exception or excuse) wasted their vote. The Independence Party rules permit voting by proxy, a practice slowly marginalizing the State Committee, turning it into a mostly phantom body. The party’s movers and shakers hold enough proxy statements to control the party (sponsoring stooges during petition drives who sign over their proxies.) Gone are the halcyon years of Golisano and Perot when electrified activists packed party meetings to support dynamic third-party candidates and crusade for reform. Proxies now pack the third-party ballot line with incumbent Democrats and Republicans keeping the third-party movement mired in a deep malaise - two-thirds of the Independence membership stayed home for the gubernatorial election (146,648 votes cast statewide on the Independence line, out of 434,752 voters enrolled in the Independence Party.) Proxy control has insinuated bad decisions, bad press, and a drop from third to fifth place at the ballot box.

County Committee:
The ICO or Interim County Organization, so called because of its ephemeral nature, is the local incarnation of the statewide monolith, or the Independence Party at its naked, most basic self; an organization that must, by law, be reconstituted every two years - at the end of each NY state election cycle; and from the ashes arises a phoenix simply called, the County Committee. This is where the party’s barons and warlords live - and feed off the countryside. The currency here is, the signed proxy statement. The County Committee is basically a paper mill, grinding proxies into raw political power transmitted via the State Committee to the Executive Committee and refined to reappear on countless ballot boxes throughout New York state under the rubric, “Independence.”

- - joseph tiraco March 7, 2012
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WHAT ARE PETITIONS FOR?

NY State election law requires candidates for public office to file petitions signed by 5% of their party membership who reside within the venue of the office being sought. That is, only voters enrolled in the Independence Party who are eligible to vote for the candidate in a primary election are permitted to sign his or her petition.

What are people saying by signing a candidate’s petition?  “I agree that this person should get a chance to compete for this public office.” What they are NOT saying is, “I will vote for this candidate,” or “I approve of this candidate’s policies.”

The signature is therefore not a vote for anything, or approval of anything, or support for anything; but merely a nod more or less saying, LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

Then why pester voters to sign some meaningless document? The OBVIOUS ANSWER: the petition is of value to somebody, and that somebody is the prospective candidate. Since every party voter gets only ONE nod per candidate per public office, the prospective candidate is saying, “Give me your nod.” While you can sign any and all the petitions you want, only the FIRST petition you sign to fill a particular public office (ie, city council, state assembly, etc.) is valid.

At this point in time (petition time) there is no candidate, no campaign, and no policies, just some vague possibilities. Only two people can move to solidify the possibilities: the prospective candidate, and you; the unspoken dialog is roughly this, “me me me I want to try” and “OK, here’s my nod, give it a whirl, show me your best stuff and maybe I might vote for you in the next election, but remember, I take a lot of convincing.”

The petition process is cumbersome and imperfect, but an important civic duty - not unlike jury duty.  Membership in a political party carries with it certain responsibilities - both inherent in citizenship and part of the system some call democracy, and others refer to as government by self rule; in short, our chosen way of life.– joseph tiraco june 5, 2010

Petition Carriers, Campaign Workers. June - November 2010. Part Time, name your own hours, work in Queens. Good opportunity to learn about politics and running for public office. MUST BE ENROLLED TO VOTE IN THE INDEPENDENCE PARTY, OR BE AN INDEPENDENT BLANK (never voted before.) $10-$20 hour. Bilingual applicants welcome (English and any other language.) CONTACT US HERE or FAX resume to 718-275-1323.

The 2010 Candidate Screening process is now in progress. If you are seeking a slot on Ballot Line C (The New York State Independence Party) CONTACT US HERE.

History is replete with examples of society’s delicate civil fabric ripped asunder by strongmen doing what comes natural; accumulating political power to themselves. The ancient folly that morphed republican Greece and Rome into horrific tyrannies presents today’s active ingredients for struggles in Africa and Central America; abysmal conflict between stasis and status, government and governed, doyen and dunce tumbles on and on, sometimes bloody, but always emotionally charged. Desirous of the extraordinary ability certain individuals can bring to the table, but fearful of being swallowed whole, a vigilant citizenry attempts to limit the amount of time these powerful predators can feed in public waters - the key word here is “attempts.”

Michael Bloomberg with his disarming Howdy Doody smile exudes all the charm of a deep water shark relentlessly plying the icy North Atlantic. Just recently, in a shocking breach of public trust, he swam across the Rubicon, chewing through the safety net incumbent weary voters were comfortably tucked behind. The justification? “Who needs term limits when a man of my talent is working for you for free, or to be more accurate, a mere buck a year. Why? Because I love you .” The implied point comes across with all the earnestness Bostonians reserve for their brethren New Yorkers.

But an Internet skeptic might surf to
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Michael_Bloomberg where the inferences suggest, the man has read Benjamin Franklin’s bio, and took profuse notes: for instance, are the morning subway rides extractions of Ben’s early morning wheelbarrow walks?
And Bloomberg’s statement, “People say I have my name all over town because I need to feed my ego,” he said in 1994. “Actually, it’s because that’s the way to build brand recognition.”(Hass, Nancy, “Bloomberg! Bloomberg! Bloomberg!” The Forward, Sept. 23, 1994.), echos of Ben Franklin urging tireless self promotion? As the Internet profile takes form, Bloomberg the man comes through as a supercilious egotist, Old Ben Franklin rolled into Marcus Licinius Crassus.

But, http://pdf.forbes.com/2001/05/02/0502facescan_print.html is the show stopper: Forbes Faces: May 2, 2001. Here we learn Michael Bloomberg was worth $4 billion before he took the oath of office. Directly below him on that same page is a photo of Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy, and at the time Berlusconi’s net worth of $13 billion dwarfed that of Bloomberg’s. A subsequent search revealed that today, eight years later, Bloomberg is worth $17 billion, and Berlusconi $9 billion. Clearly, Bloomberg grew much fatter feeding in New York waters then Silvio Berlusconi did by gulping down all the Mediterranean fish he could find. It’s hard not to notice that New York City, Bloomberg’s eight year charge, had no such astronomical rise of fortune; prosperity is now a fading shadow in the rearview mirror. In fact, downright dystopia is in the wind; as far as the dollar a year deal goes, you get what you pay for - we got screwed and he got $13 billion richer. Rather then a benevolent pater, the man who loves us is just one more sticky fingered media mogul grasping the goose laying golden eggs as tightly as he can, and will never let it go. –joseph tiraco

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The Independence party has become the billionaires first mens club. The Mayor and Tom Golisano with other rich men have bought the line. Who ever they want for any office they get. Both are not even members of the party. The two leaders of the party, Frank Mackay and Tom Connelly are all about money and power. They want everyone else to waste their time while they are making deals with Dictators. They learned this from their cult friends and the Republicans. What happened upstate was in the making for a longer time then what they said. There is no doubt in my mind that the Mayor had a hand in it. He and his rich friends want to take over the state and then the country. So they believe in their minds that they are the only ones who can save this country. It was the rich who got into this mess in the first place. This move upstate sounds like a Newmanite move. The Independence acting like the other two parties. Power, money and special interests. This country will never get better if the interests of the people and not the interests of power hungry Billionaires continues. Empires eventually fall. Grow up and come back down to Earth. I,m sure money was given for the legal services for the two Democrats. Money talks. Last Mister Mayor have some ethics and stop buying everyone off, you look like Elliot Spitzer and his hookers, which reminds me how is that pimp Fred Newman and his madam jackie Salit. Do you have any pride.

–Pam

A clean sweep every eight years, that’s US law, and that’s New York City law.  Bloomberg and
his stable of stooges today played out a Shakespearian tragedy on the steps of City Hall:  a
diaphanous scene where the prince seizes the crown and places it on his own head while courtiers
and jesters egg him on. The police barge in to pledge their loyalty to the prince, judges disgrace
themselves and media moguls begin to spoon feed the swill to the masses.  The whole thing
promises to end very badly, and unruly onlookers shower the players with a chorus of BOOS.

–joseph tiraco

Don’t forget to VOTE on Primary Day, Tuesday September 9, 2008. We are busy chasing down the facts. Check back here for a look at the Queens County Primary Day ballot. Lots of surprises.