Political Parties Part Two Minor Parties

     Even though America is a predominantly a two-party system, there are other political parties known as minor parties. It is often hard for minor parties to gain traction in America, because anytime they come up with a good policy idea the major parties swoop in and steal the idea. There are tons of minor parties in the United States such as the Libertarian party, Communist party, Green party, Peace and Freedom party, and even the Pirate Party. Those are just a few of the hundreds of minor parties in America. The most votes a third-party candidate had received was Ross Perot in 1992 he had 19% of the popular vote. This election however two third-party tickets were on the ballot in all 50 states. Gary Johnson represented the Libertarian party while Doctor Jill Stein represented the Green party.  

    Gary Johnson Presidential Candidate

Jill Stein Presidential Candidate

Does Gun Control Really Work?

     If your like me, and your sitting down one night watching the news you might hear about the appalling gun violence going on in places like Chicago or Maryland. When I hear this I wonder why there isn't more gun control in those states. So I took the liberty to do some research and tried to find out what the heck is going on, why isn't more being done. This year alone in Chicago the amount of people shot and killed is 656, and the total number of homicides is 732. On average a person is shot every two hours in Chicago.

     So why do all these people have guns? Well when conducting my research I found that according to http://gunlawscorecard.org/ Illinois has a score of a B+ how can that be when a person is shot every two hours in Chicago alone. Well for one the website bases it off of policy alone but it just shows that the more control there is the more crime there. Another state Maryland is given an A- gun control rating, but according to http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/01/12/the-10-most-dangerous-states/ Maryland is the 10th most dangerous state in the union. According to the same source gunlawscorecard, Texas has a rating of an F-, but it is one of the safest states according to that same source. This to me proves that gun control doesn't really work. So if we had to decide we would side with less gun regulation, we are not saying give everyone a gun that wants one. We believe that if you are under criminal investigation you should not get a gun. There should be background checks to buy firearms, and if you are to dangerous to fly on a plane you should not be allowed to own a gun.

     Thanks for reading and as always if you agree or disagree let us know by or if you have any topics for us to write about email us at assandelephants@Gmail.com and don't forget to follow, and comment and as always thanks for reading.

Banning the American Flag??

      Earlier tonight as I sat down in my recliner to watch the evening news, I saw that Hampshire College had decided to ban the American Flag. I was shocked when I heard this and it made me very sad to hear that. I felt like my family had been disrespected, both of my Grandfathers served in the United States Military one in the US Army during the Korean War and one in the US National Gard during Vietnam. My Great Uncle made the ultimate sacrifice to this great nation by giving his life during a bombing mission in Vietnam.

      In like manner when I see the American Flag banned I feel that my family has been disrespected, and all the family's of those who have served and those whos family members continue to serve, so us back home can enjoy our freedoms we tend to overlook and abuse. When I go to Arlington National Cemetery and see the row upon row of white tombstone markers I think about all the families that are left crying when they found out that there loved one gave the ultimate sacrifice for there country so people like you and me can live our free life's and have the right to vote. It is my personal belief if you haven't figured it out yet that to ban the American flag is disrespectful to all of those who have and continue to serve. Banning the American Flag is disrespectful to all of those individuals who sacrifice there time, and often times don't even get to come home for the holidays to spend time with their family because they are keeping us safe.
    

      Sorry I just had to vent but thanks for reading and as always please don't forget to follow, comment, and as always if you have any disagreements or topics for us to write about regarding American Politics or our Government please email us at assandelephants@Gmail.com remember the more controversial the issue the better.       

Political Parties

  America is a two party system meaning that there are two main parties that people vote for in an election. In America the two main parties are the Republicans and the Democrats, the Democrats are usually a more left leaning or liberal group while the Republicans are more right wing or conservative. There are also minor parties in the United States but there has never been a President from a minor party. Minor parties often gain a little portion of the vote in the Presidential election. For now we are just going to talk about the two main Political Parties, minor parties will be covered at a later time.

Republican Party                                                                                                   

The Republican party believes in:

• Smaller from of government 
• States rights
• Tax cuts
• Energy Independence
• Pro 2nd Amendment
• Pro Life
• Free Market trade
• Anti Gay marriage
• Last President George W Bush
• President Elect Donald Trump will be president on January 20, 2017
• Party symbol is an Elephant
• Founder Abraham Lincoln
• Also know as the GOP    

                                   

Party Members

     Republicans are usually white upper class middle age males who are protestant, a lot of very religious people are usually Republicans because the party is pro life. Although the party is mostly upper class males this election record numbers of middle class and minorities voted for the Republican parties candidate and President Elect Donald Trump.

Democratic Party

The Democratic party believes in:

• A larger centralized government
• Tax raises on the rich
• Pro gun control
• Pro choice
• Pro marriage equality
• Rebuilding Infrastructure
• Raining in Wall Street
• Last President Barrack Obama
• Party symbol is a Donkey
• Founder Andrew Jackson

Party Members

     Democrats are usually middle and lower class Americans and often minority and ethnic groups, they generate a lot of support from the Catholic church congregation. The democratic parties nominee for President this last election was Hillary Clinton she made history by becoming the first female to be nominated to run for president by a major party and the women with the most votes in the presidential election, she had 64.2 million votes.

     If you found this post to be helpful to you at all please comment or follow us, and as always if you have any questions or topics you would like to see us cover or to write about please email us at assandelephants @Gmail.com.

Sources

1) https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pdf

2) https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party- Platform-7.21.16-no-lin

3) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/21/election-results-electoral-popular-votes-trump-clinton/94214826

About Ass and Elephants

     Ass and Elephants is a blog about American politics and government. We will cover anything such as issues surrounding the United States, the United States Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and how or why our government works the way it does. If it is about politics and you want to hear about it, the blog will write about it. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or topics for the blog to write about feel free to email us at assandelephants@Gmail.com, thank you for visiting our blog.