America's Party, originally known as America's Independent Party, is a conservative American political party formed in 2008 by supporters of Alan Keyes as an alternative to the Republican, Democratic and other parties.

Founding[link]

Alan Keyes 2008 candidacy before the AIP[link]

Alan Keyes declared his candidacy for President seeking the Republican nomination on September 14, 2007. Just three days later, Keyes placed third in the Family Research Council's Values Voter straw poll, behind Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, garnering 5% of support.^[3]

The Keyes campaign drew limited support in any of the caucuses or primaries that took place. In the Iowa caucuses, Keyes claimed some of the state's ballots did not even list him as a candidate, and his campaign CEO, Stephen Stone, stated that the reason Keyes did not show up on most ballots was primarily because Keyes had decided to enter the election cycle so late. He also blamed the media for not recognizing Keyes as a viable candidate, excluding him from debates and providing practically no campaign coverage.^[4]

Keyes was awarded four Republican Party convention delegates, more than he received in 1996 but less than in 2000. In early 2008, Keyes explored the possibility of allying himself with the Constitution Party, marking this change away from his lifelong involvement in the GOP with a speech on April 15 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a town which has been a battleground in the political fight over illegal immigration.^{[citation needed]} However, due primarily to his fundamental disagreement with CP founder Howard Phillips over foreign policy, the party instead selected Chuck Baldwin at the party's convention.^[5] Following the defeat, Keyes told a group of his supporters that he was "prayerfully considering" continuing his candidacy as an independent,^[6] and refused to endorse Baldwin.^[7]

AIP formation[link]

Following the failure to come together with the Constitution Party, Keyes' supporters formed America's Independent Party, which held its convention in Fenton, Michigan on August 21, 2008, making Keyes their Presidential nominee. A press release from the party said: "John McCain has abandoned the principles of Ronald Reagan – particularly the Reagan pro-life platform plank," and the party also opposed John McCain on other points, such as his opposition to a federal amendment outlawing marriage for same-sex couples, sponsoring McCain/Feingold legislation, which they said was "a direct attack on their First Amendment rights to political free speech and grassroots citizen activism;" they also opposed his support for immigration reform, deriding it as "amnesty" and his support for legislation intended to combat global warming.^[8] The AIP gained ballot access in three states and became an officially recognized write-in candidate in several dozen others. A struggle within the American Independent Party of California (the California affiliate of the Constitution Party), between a pro-Keyes faction and Constitution Party supporters of the 2008 candidacy of Chuck Baldwin, led to the placement of Keyes and Wiley S. Drake on the ballot as the AIP-CA nominees, where they received 40,673 votes. Two lawsuits by the Baldwin forces to regain control of the California AIP, one before the election and one after, failed. Keyes also received 2545 votes on the AIP ticket in Florida,^[9] 3,051 votes in Colorado, and write-in votes in a few other states, for a nationwide total of 47,768 recorded votes.^[10]

Renaming and financing[link]

According to the party's official website, it has renamed itself America's Party.^[11] The party's website announces that, "America's Party does not accept financial contributions... Instead, we're asking you to directly support fully-vetted, proven, principled candidates, so that 100% of your precious resources will go directly to the most important work."^[12] Instead, the party maintains a "Directory of Approved Candidates, State, County & Local Front Porch Caucuses" on its website (paid for by party Chairman Tom Hoefling). There was a convention on February 18, 2012 to nominate candidates for President and Vice President resulting in the nominations of Tom Hoefling as Presidential candidate and J.D. Ellis as Vice Presidential candidate.^[13] During this convention the America's Party also ratified its 2012 platform.^[14].

Issues[link]

Tax reform[link]

The party seeks to reform the tax structure by advocating the repeal of the 16th Amendment, and despite the fact that many members support the FairTax, the platform remains open on what to replace the Federal income tax with.

Other issues[link]

The party supports the Federal Marriage Amendment being added to the U.S. Constitution. It is also pro-life on abortion.

2012 presidential election[link]

On February 18, 2012, Party chairman Tom Hoefling was chosen as the America's Party 2012 presidential nominee in an online nominating convention. J.D. Ellis was selected as the vice presidential nominee.^[15][16]

References[link]

See also[link]

Conservatism portal

External links[link]

• AP website

Several political parties are, or have been, called the Independent Party:

Denmark

• Independent Party (Denmark)

Uruguay

• Independent Party (Uruguay)

Kosovo

• Independent Party (Kosovo)

United States

• United States Greenback Party (1874-1884)
• Independent Party of Delaware
• Independent Party of Oregon
• The Independent Party is a name chosen by Ralph Nader for his 2008 presidential campaign to gain easier ballot access in some states

Defunct parties

• Independent Party (South Africa)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Warren Mosler

Post-Keynesian economics
Warren Mosler speaking at War and Poverty, Peace and Prosperity Conference at the Levy Economics Institute
Born	(1949-09-18) September 18, 1949 (age 62)
Nationality	United States
Field	Modern Monetary Theory, Macroeconomics, Monetary policy
Alma mater	University of Connecticut (B.A.)

Warren Mosler (born September 18, 1949) is an American economist, president and founder of Mosler Automotive, and co-founder of the Center for Full Employment And Price Stability at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He briefly ran for President of the United States as a member of the Democratic Party in the 2012 election before dropping out to run for U.S. Senate.

Background[link]

Mosler spent his early life in Manchester, Connecticut and was initially employed in Hartford before moving to New York City to work on Wall Street. In 1982, he began a hedge fund, which by the 1990s was largely turned over to his partners. Later, he relocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands to participate in a government-sponsored economic growth initiative.^[1]

Academically, he is known for his writings on Modern Monetary Theory, an economic theory that describes the way fiat money is created and utilized in modern economies.

Political campaigns[link]

In February 2009, Mosler declared his candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission to run for the office of President of The United States as an independent.^[2] In April 2010, he withdrew^[3] to run in the United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2010^[1], briefly as a Democrat, but ultimately as an independent. In the final tally he received 0.98% of the vote.

Personal life[link]

Warren Mosler resides in St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Center for Full Employment and Price Stability
• The Center of the Universe: Warren Mosler's blog
• Warren Mosler Interview on The George Jarkesy Show

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