Third Party Thursday Presents – The Veterans First Party

Formed in 2003, the Veterans First Party is dedicated to giving “Veterans and their families everything that they have earned and were promised,” and ensuring “that ALL Americans are fed, clothed, educated and cared for before we send ONE American Dollar to feed, clothe, educate and care for those of other countries.”

The party is active in only a handful of states, but it 2004 it fielded a candidate for Senate in the state of Florida. The candidate, Dennis Bradley, received only 2% of the votes. As of now, the Veterans First Party has not endorsed any candidate for president in the 2008 election cycle.

Although some might expect the Veterans First Party to include a religious agenda, its platform proposes a strict separation of religious issues from the sphere of politics. The party also recognizes the varying political attitudes of Veterans (which I am here capitalizing, because the party proposes doing so as a sign of respect), and attempts to stick to issues that will appeal to Veterans and their families from across the political spectrum.

Among the highlights of the Veterans First Party’s platform:

• Offering free medical coverage for all Veterans and their families
• Providing full funding for the Veterans Administration before any foreign aid programs
• Ensuring medical care, housing, and food for all seniors
• Raising teachers’ salaries and providing them with new classroom equipment
• Replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax
• Enforcing a one-year prison sentence for illegal immigrants, and denying US citizenship to the American-born children of illegal immigrants
• Instituting a 3-term limit for US Congresspeople (this appears to refer to Representatives, with no mention of Senators)
• Withdrawing from NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement)

Unfortunately, learning about the Veterans First Party is made difficult by the poor design of its website. The site also contains a few nagging errors, such as the claim that “our Constitution was approved on July 4th, 1776.” Of course, the Constitution, which was written in 1787, was not ratified until June 21, 1788. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. It was actually approved two days earlier, so technically we celebrate Independence Day two days late.

Remember – politics is a free market, and there are more than two service providers out there. Before you vote, shop around!