Talk about flashbacks. In a flashback worthy of the most intense acid trip ever, I am reliving 1994.

Remember then? The year of the Contract with America? The year when the GOP promised sweeping reforms that would lead to a balanced budget and reduced deficit? The year that would prompt Bill Clinton two years later in his reelection campaign to declare the era of big government to be over?

Well, guess what? This year's the year the DNC is promising to reform government in new and innovative ways. Only instead of a Contract with America, their agenda seems to be based on a platform of "the other guy sucks". Odd that this message resonated with enough voters to even begin to help the DNC to obtain a majority.

History leaves me extremely doubtful that any significant changes will take place. The Democrats are promising Universal Health Care, a promise that will doom to failure any attempt at smaller government if they are in any way successful, and something that the majority of Americans have stated they do NOT want. We don't want universal health care; we want AFFORDABLE health care. There's a vast difference.

And the Democrats are of course buying their way into office, by promising so many things to so many people that if they keep even a percentage of those promises, they'll send the deficit into the stratosphere. Think the Gulf War is expensive? Think about the costs of an immediate withdrawal, as the Democrats are demanding, or, worse yet, of a reinstated draft, as many prominent Democrats are also proposing. Who's going to foot the bill? Big business? Think again. The Dems are as beholden to big business as are the Republicans, and any attempt to penalize big business for success could very well result in one of the worst recessions in US history. The current trend of economic growth is, in truth, only exceeded by the trend of the mid 1990s, and unlike the 90's boom, is not built on a false economy as the "dot com boom" was.

What we need is not by any means more of the same. What we need is new ideas, new leaders, a new vision. What we need is not going to be found in the mainstream parties, but is more likely to be found in third parties and independents. As voters come to understand this, the likelihood for substantial change will increase.