Myles Hoenig: US Left Third Parties Often Out in Cold

TEHRAN (FNA)- Myles Hoenig, American political analyst and activist, says American oligarchs back Democratic and Republican parties to make sure their economic hegemony will not be challenged.

Speaking in an interview with FNA, Myles Hoenig said, “Policy decisions passed by Congress is based primarily on donors’ positions. The US is an oligarchy ruled by the ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations… This is not the kind of democracy where qualified, everyday people could be elected.”

Myles Hoenig is a political analyst based in Baltimore, Maryland. He ran for Congress in 2016 as a Green Party candidate.

Below is the full text of the interview:

Q: US Third parties, like Green Party and Party for Socialism and Liberation, have popular support inside the country. Why is it the case that the majority of the followers of the third parties vote for the mainstream parties?

A: Popular support depends on how you measure it. The Green Party, one of the larger of the third parties, rarely reaches above the 1% mark in presidential elections. In other federal elections the numbers are higher, and in tight races, could potentially swing an election from a Democrat to Republican. Very few elected officials are anything other than the two main parties. Kshama Sawant, of the Socialist Alternative, won a decisive re-election campaign in Seattle for City Council, is one such prominent Socialist. Others like Sanders and AOC are part of the mainstream with progressive views.

What is popular are socialist ideas. Medicare for All has majority population support, even among Republicans. Living wage, free college and day care, end to endless-wars, etc. are all socialist ideas, along with its past record of labor reform and protections, social security, unemployment insurance and others from the FDR era.

Q: Why do financiers make huge donations to Democrat or Republican campaigns in each election, but not the third parties?

A: Imagine one of the main parties were to propose and pass Medicare for All, free college tuition and forgiving college loans, paid family medical leave, and ending never ending wars. Half of Wall Street would collapse. For that reason alone, special interest pours enormous amounts of money into political campaigns for the two main parties, to guarantee these proposals, which are the norm in most other industrial countries, are never enacted or are watered down so much to be unrecognizable from its original intent.

Third party candidates do tend to swing the main parties in their positions, but marginally from the left. The far right, extremist wings of the Republican Party are far more likely to be successful, as we have seen with the Tea Party or the Freedom Caucus. But their issues are supportive of Wall Street’s dominance. Left third parties are often out in the cold.

A Princeton/Northwestern study has shown what is already assumed that policy decisions passed by Congress is based primarily on donors’ positions. The US is an oligarchy ruled by the ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations. We see how presidential elections require billions of dollars, and even the loser is spending that much. Down ballot the numbers could easily run into the tens of millions. This is not the kind of democracy where qualified, everyday people could be elected. The social worker cannot compete against a hedge fund-backed candidate or one completely ensconced in the existing political/economic structure.

Third party candidates rarely see the kind of financial support that would win elections, so they must rely on small donations by very large numbers. The Green Party does not accept corporate contributions, which puts them at a disadvantage.