Who we are
We are a group of California citizens who are promoting a centrist, moderate path between liberal and conservative politics.

What we believe

We believe in taking the best the left and right have to offer – using simple solutions, with minimal bureaucracy.  Surprisingly, common ground can be found between Democrats and Republicans by focusing on our wallets – everyone hates paying taxes and getting ripped off.  Reducing government waste and implementing competition and incentives to reduce costs will solve a surprising number of issues in ways that appeal to all but the most radical of both parties. 

We believe in rebalancing the rules of business to give the poor and middle class better opportunities, then letting capitalism work its magic on a restructured economic playing field.  But, before we can address these issues, we need to fix the problems with our political system that cause gridlock.

Rigged System

There are common sense solutions to many issues that have been consistently proposed by various studies.  The problem is politics and the media.  In our polarized system, politicians get elected by courting the extremes - whether it is handing Medicare patients over to the clutches of drug companies, sacrificing our children’s education to protect teachers union campaign contributions (by not having teachers paid based on performance), or giving tax breaks to those who work with capital, rather than those who work for a salary.  Much of the media does the same, either trying to sell its product (the news) by catering to niche groups, or by sensationalism.  The polarization is due to rigging the system, and can be reversed.

Manipulation

Politicians manipulate the masses to get elected – we are herded like cattle.  Manipulation takes money to buy TV ads, so politicians become beholden to donators.  Businesses manipulate us and our kids with subliminal tactics to make us fatter and buy more of their processed food, or to turn us into human ATM machines for them by going into debt to buy their products.  Then they use similar tactics to influence us as voters when Congress tries to regulate them.  We see TV imagery designed to activate certain parts of the brain, along with standard misuse of statistics and verbal tricks.  See Manipulation to learn how you are being attacked, and how to defend yourself.

Economic thread through issues

The US was created uniquely as a meritocracy, in contrast with the aristocracies of Europe.  The Founders were concerned about concentration of wealth creating access and influence in government, creating a new aristocracy.  Thus, we’ve always had a balance between workers and capital (money).  The balance has been cyclical throughout US history, from workers (Homestead Act), to capital (robber barons, trusts), to workers (New Deal), to capital (post-Reagan cuts of taxes & services).  We believe it is time to shift it again back to the middle.  We don’t believe in socialism, but neither do we believe in a rich aristocracy.

The budget policies at the federal and state level are robbing the American people.  Money spent on wars, subsidies and merit-less transfer payments is wasted money.  It drives the deficit, devaluing all our dollars, making everything from oil to travel cost more.  Instead, we should be investing that money in infrastructure, and education (the infrastructure of talent).  At the California state level, proposition 13 has shifted money and control from the local level to the state level.  Instead of steady revenue from property, state revenue swings wildly as income, capital gains and sales tax revenues rise and fall with the economy.  Proposition 13 unfairly provides advantages to property owned by corporations and early buyers (generally the well-off, and needs to be fixed.

What you can do
Free your mind. Read about the manipulation issue to understand how special interests try to use fear and confusion to control you. Doing the right thing often involves stepping on someone's toes, someone with money to run ads against the politicians. For politicians to have backbone, we need to pay attention and back them up when they do the right thing. This site recognizes that most people are too busy to become educated on the details of every issue. Thus, we try to provide a concise explanation on a handful of issues with a focus on the 3 main things that can be done.

Spread the word. Tell others about this site.

Give feedback. Provide suggestions for good articles, books or links to feature on this site (we're looking for balanced, concise summaries). E-mail comments for posting in the blog section.

Write your representative  - ask them to end Gerrymandering and adopt the other positions advocated by this site.

US House of Representatives email addresses.

US Senator email addresses.

California Senate email addresses.

California Assembly email addresses.

California Governor.