Moderates of the World Unite!
You have nothing to lose but the chains of extremists!
Official Trailer
Do Something!
We want our government to respond to problems—real or perceived, long-term or immediate. But all too often, nothing happens. There may be speeches by officials, public statements, new bills introduced with no chance of passing, vague promises, or a callous silence. Generally, nothing of consequence is achieved.
This Sucks!
The government is too important to be paralyzed by the gridlock caused by warring extremists. The government exists to serve the people, not leave them to voice frustration at futility.
The Moderates’ Manifesto points to a different and hopefully more productive course. By identifying the problems of both the American Left and the Right, The Moderates’ Manifesto suggests practical solutions to our current political confrontation and partisan gridlock. The Moderates’ Manifesto is not a cure-all, but it is a call for fundamental extremist-busting action that can be taken NOW!
Read The Moderates’ Manifesto.
A Video Overview
Excerpts from the book.
Accompanied by Move On Over To My Side a song from Long Time Friend
Chapter One
Perils To The Left Of Me,
Perils To The Right Of Me!
The extremes of American politics are widely divergent, and the gap grows wider each election cycle and sometimes every week.
Extreme conservatives may want a national government that does next to nothing
while…
Extreme liberals want a government that does nearly everything
The best view of patriotism is that it is never inconsistent to love one’s country and still recognize and fix flaws.
This is no different than loving your home and fixing the roof: you fix it because you love it.
“A house divided cannot stand.”
~Abraham Lincoln
“Religion – In your Heart, In your Home, In your House of Worship, but Not in the Halls of Government”
Chapter Two
The Moderates’ Manifesto
The Platform of the American Moderates Party (AMP)
18 Points
Eighteen Points
Including POINT 2
… regulated capitalism is the ideal economic system in which the excesses of greed, market failure, and monopoly power are restrained for the common good while allowing business, industry, and individuals to pursue economic success within lawful bounds.
POINT 5
… national problems require national solutions. The federal government should deal with broad national matters which affect all citizens equally, while allowing for state level regulation of truly local matters
POINT 8
… the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment create a system of strict government neutrality toward and non-interference with religious and philosophical beliefs and practices.
This principle can be summed up with the slogan: “Religion—In your Heart, In your Home, In your House of Worship, but Not in the Halls of Government
Chapter Three
May The Force Be With You
(Because it is with any Government) or What is the Role of Government?
Government, acting through law, can and should enact and enforce rules that protect citizens from the bad actions of other citizens…
Government in large measure exists to protect its citizens from the wrongs that the less upright members of society may inflict, on purpose or otherwise, on the ordinary cooperative citizens. [Points 1 and 2]
Chapter Four
Want To Play A Game?
Life is not a zero-sum game. Life can be rich and rewarding as we seek cooperation over confrontation. All of society has the ability to play a positive sum game and be better off in the long run with cooperation.
But politicians think of and have made the process of governing a zero sum or even a negative sum game.
No political party will give the other a win, even one desired by a majority of the public, out of spite, revenge, distrust, or just a desire to play politics as a bareknuckle brawl.
Life is not a zero-sum game
Chapter Five
Economics: The Not So Dismal Science
I support capitalism as does the AMP platform [Point 2], and I use the good and services of many huge corporations.
But it is the unchecked power of enormous corporations that distorts the functioning of markets, elections, and government that needs to be regulated for the common good by preventing market abuses through monopoly power.
And it is certainly something the Founding Fathers never anticipated that huge corporations would manipulate both election outcomes and the behavior of elected officials once in office. [Points 10 and 16]
“Economics exists to make Astrology look respectable.”
~John Kenneth Galbraith
Chapter Six
“There Ought To Be A Law…”
An Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court over a hundred years ago spelled out in detail the trade-offs that the social contract engenders where individuals give up a small fraction of their rights in return for other individuals curtaining their rights to do the same and thereby creating an organized society under law. [Point 1]
One area where the law is dramatically changing to the detriment of individual rights is the topic of the separation of church and state.
The United States is not and cannot be a Christian nation or one of any other sects, no more than Jimmy or Elizabeth can be the favored child and still maintain family harmony.
Chapter Seven
The Jigsaw Puzzle – Putting It All Together
** FIGHT ** – The one word I hate the most in political ads.
A candidate in either party says: “Send me to Congress/the State Legislature, and I will fight for you.”
I despise that metaphor.
…Everyone tries to “fight” the other side rather than cooperate.
Enhancing universal voting rights and creating freedom from partisan gerrymanders would go a long way toward breaking the gridlock in Congress and reducing the need for politicians to “fight.”
The ultimate return of political power to the majority of citizens is the abolition of the Electoral College and the move to direct election of the President and Vice President. [Point 12]
“It is the people who control the Government, not the Government the people.”
~Sir Winston Churchill
Chapter Eight
OK, Where Do We Go From Here?
Push your federal and state officeholders to adopt many or all of the points in the AMP proposal in Chapter Two as promptly as possible.
Epilogue
Bookends
Don’t Let Liars Lead!
To get the full understanding of AMP and the value of this effort we encourage you to purchase a copy of “The Moderates Manifesto” today. The eBook is only $4.99.
“But A Constitution of Government once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, Once Lost, is Lost forever.”
~John Adams
Moderates of the World Unite!
You have nothing to lose but the chains of extremists!
Official Trailer
Do Something!
We want our government to respond to problems—real or perceived, long-term or immediate. But all too often, nothing happens. There may be speeches by officials, public statements, new bills introduced with no chance of passing, vague promises, or a callous silence. Generally, nothing of consequence is achieved.
This Sucks!
The government is too important to be paralyzed by the gridlock caused by warring extremists. The government exists to serve the people, not leave them to voice frustration at futility.
The Moderates’ Manifesto points to a different and hopefully more productive course. By identifying the problems of both the American Left and the Right, The Moderates’ Manifesto suggests practical solutions to our current political confrontation and partisan gridlock. The Moderates’ Manifesto is not a cure-all, but it is a call for fundamental extremist-busting action that can be taken NOW!
Read The Moderates’ Manifesto.
A Video Overview
Excerpts from the book.
Accompanied by
Move On Over To My Side
a song from Long Time Friend
Chapter One
Perils To The Left Of Me,
Perils To The Right Of Me!
The extremes of American politics are widely divergent, and the gap grows wider each election cycle and sometimes every week.
Extreme conservatives may want a national government that does next to nothing.
while…
Extreme liberals want a government that does nearly everything.
The best view of patriotism is that it is never inconsistent to love one’s country and still recognize and fix flaws.
This is no different than loving your home and fixing the roof: you fix it because you love it.
“A house divided cannot stand.”
~Abraham Lincoln
Chapter Two
The Moderates’ Manifesto
The Platform of the American Moderates Party (AMP)
18 Points
Eighteen Points
Including POINT 2
… regulated capitalism is the ideal economic system in which the excesses of greed, market failure, and monopoly power are restrained for the common good while allowing business, industry, and individuals to pursue economic success within lawful bounds.
POINT 5
… national problems require national solutions. The federal government should deal with broad national matters which affect all citizens equally, while allowing for state level regulation of truly local matters
POINT 8
… the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment create a system of strict government neutrality toward and non-interference with religious and philosophical beliefs and practices.
This principle can be summed up with the slogan: “Religion—In your Heart, In your Home, In your House of Worship, but Not in the Halls of Government
“Religion – In your Heart, In your Home, In your House of Worship, but Not in the Halls of Government”
Chapter Three
May The Force Be With You
(Because it is with any Government) or What is the Role of Government?
Government, acting through law, can and should enact and enforce rules that protect citizens from the bad actions of other citizens…
Government in large measure exists to protect its citizens from the wrongs that the less upright members of society may inflict, on purpose or otherwise, on the ordinary cooperative citizens. [Points 1 and 2]
Chapter Four
Want To Play A Game?
Life is not a zero-sum game. Life can be rich and rewarding as we seek cooperation over confrontation. All of society has the ability to play a positive sum game and be better off in the long run with cooperation.
But politicians think of and have made the process of governing a zero sum or even a negative sum game.
No political party will give the other a win, even one desired by a majority of the public, out of spite, revenge, distrust, or just a desire to play politics as a bareknuckle brawl.
Life is not a zero-sum game
Chapter Five
Economics: The Not So Dismal Science
I support capitalism as does the AMP platform [Point 2], and I use the good and services of many huge corporations.
But it is the unchecked power of enormous corporations that distorts the functioning of markets, elections, and government that needs to be regulated for the common good by preventing market abuses through monopoly power.
And it is certainly something the Founding Fathers never anticipated that huge corporations would manipulate both election outcomes and the behavior of elected officials once in office. [Points 10 and 16]
“Economics exists to make Astrology look respectable.”
~John Kenneth Galbraith
Chapter Six
“There Ought To Be A Law…”
An Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court over a hundred years ago spelled out in detail the trade-offs that the social contract engenders where individuals give up a small fraction of their rights in return for other individuals curtaining their rights to do the same and thereby creating an organized society under law. [Point 1]
One area where the law is dramatically changing to the detriment of individual rights is the topic of the separation of church and state.
The United States is not and cannot be a Christian nation or one of any other sects, no more than Jimmy or Elizabeth can be the favored child and still maintain family harmony.
Chapter Seven
The Jigsaw Puzzle – Putting It All Together
** FIGHT ** – The one word I hate the most in political ads.
A candidate in either party says: “Send me to Congress/the State Legislature, and I will fight for you.”
I despise that metaphor.
…Everyone tries to “fight” the other side rather than cooperate.
Enhancing universal voting rights and creating freedom from partisan gerrymanders would go a long way toward breaking the gridlock in Congress and reducing the need for politicians to “fight.”
The ultimate return of political power to the majority of citizens is the abolition of the Electoral College and the move to direct election of the President and Vice President. [Point 12]
“It is the people who control the Government, not the Government the people.”
~Sir Winston Churchill
Chapter Eight
OK, Where Do We Go From Here?
Push your federal and state officeholders to adopt many or all of the points in the AMP proposal in Chapter Two as promptly as possible.
Epilogue
Bookends
Don’t Let Liars Lead!
To get the full understanding of AMP and the value of this effort we encourage you to purchase a copy of “The Moderates Manifesto” today. The eBook is only $4.99.
“But A Constitution of Government once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, Once Lost, is Lost forever.”
~John Adams