Third, fourth and even fifth parties have at least one ally in Colorado. The writer also made a very valid point:

The Democrats and the Republicans have worked hard to create the illusion that a two-party system is "normal." They have used their control of Congress and the presidency to pass laws designed to ensure that third and fourth parties do not gain power and unseat them. Things like single-representative, winner-take-all districts and financial benefits for incumbents help maintain the two major parties at the expense of third parties. And did you know that the federal government financially supports the Republican and Democratic National Conventions - but not any other political party's conventions?

Americans favor raising the minimum wage to $7.15 per hour, 83 percent to 14 percent, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. Democrats are talking about an increase to $7.25 an hour, and they're promising to push it through in the first 100 hours of the Democratic majority rule. Bush has said he supports an increase, but won't haggle about the numbers in public.

The Libertarian Party of California provides an alternate version of the story of Christmas:

Since the 1930s, the U.S. government has gotten into the Santa Claus game by increasing the generosity of welfare and subsidy programs. The Congress in recent years has increased government spending to $2,654 billion, doubling the size of government during the Clinton and Bush administrations. Politicians run for re-election on the record of how much of other people's tax money they have captured for spending back home, just like 535 little Santa Claus elves cheerily making gifts to the happy voters. The Santa Claus spirit is shown by infamous spending earmarks such as the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska and thousands of other special pork projects, and expensive new entitlements like the Medicare prescription drug benefit.