For more than 12 years, Capitol Hill Blue has watched, monitored, criticized and chastised politicians from all political persuasions for what we see as their failure to serve the Constitution and their country.
We’ve fought the good fight but something was, and is, lacking. Our critics are always quick to point out that while we are there to criticize we do not offer any real solutions to the many problems that confront our nation.
Earlier this year, we tried to address that problem with the launch of The Campaign for Our America, a grassroots organization aimed at serious government reform, media monitoring and fraud watch.
We started strong but we started too late and failed to garner enough grassroots support to operate as a legitimate grassroots organization in key states so I suspended operations for the balance of this election year, knowing that we could regroup after the November mid-terms. Our media monitoring operation continued and we contributed to reports on MSNBC and other networks on stories about bias in news organizations.
The November mid-term elections provided some hope for change as voters tossed out the corrupt Republican leadership of Congress and gave Democrats a temporary lease to prove they could do better.
But more must be done. Early indications show reform will be slow in coming, if at all, and some of the early actions by the incoming leadership of Congress show the agenda may be more of the same.
So the Campaign for Our America returns to the fray, ready to pursue governmental reform along with continued media monitoring and a constant watch for fraud.
On January 1, Capitol Hill Blue comes an official part of the Campaign for Our America, both as the online voice for reform as well as a major contributor to its causes. In the coming year, Blue will dedicate all of its advertising revenue to the CFOA budget and serve as a public discussion forum for reform.
But we can’t do it alone and I’m asking for your help. Capitol Hill Blue’s ad revenue will fund the bulk of our expenses. I will continue to pay all operating expenses personally so that all contributions can be used for CFOA activities.
I’m asking the readers of Capitol Hill Blue to step forward and take up the challenge. We will need at least $25,000 in donations to make this work and is 1,000 Capitol Hill Blue readers contribute just $25.00 each we can achieve that goal. Of course, any amount, large or small, will help and those who do help will be part of the only grassroots political organization whose goal is serious, non-partisan, reform of our political system and government.
How will we accomplish this? By speaking out as a unified, non-partisan voice for real reform – reform based on the needs of the nation, not the agenda of any political party. Reform based on ideas from you, our readers, not from professional politicians or professional reformers with hidden agendas.
I think we can do it but whether or not we can is up to you.
Our mission is direct and straight forward:
We feel the American system of government and politics is broken and needs not only repair but complete overhaul.
So our goal is realistic, serious campaign reform and a rethinking of how we elect our leaders and conduct our government.
We believe such an effort can succeed only if it is non-partisan. We are political agnostics, not affiliated with party or ideological organization. We apply the same standard of conduct and expectations to all elected officials — Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, right or left. We will not work towards the defeat or election of any specific candidate or elected official but will use our resources instead to provide useful information so that voters can made meaningful decisions on their own.
We believe Our America belongs to the people but the people have, for far too long, been absentee landlords.
Our programs include:
Campaign reform: Working with campaign professionals, constitutional law professors and reform-minded organizations, Our America is developing realistic campaign reform proposals aimed at returning government to the people. Our proposals will be crafted around a belief that government service should be just that — service. So we are advocating limits on salaries, limits on special interest groups, increased campaign reporting requirements and tougher laws to punish those who abuse the system. We are working on our first set of campaign proposals and will seek Congressional co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. As our programs grow, we hope to expand our efforts into state elections.
Media monitoring: Too many people in this country rely on an often-biased media for information that leads them to make important decisions on those elected to office. We will examine print, broadcast and Internet-based media and spotlight those we feel distort the news or hide behind political agendas.
Fraud alerts: We will monitor the actions of our officials plus elections, advertising, campaign promises and actions of candidates with a non-partisan eye towards fraud, misleading claims and outright violation of the law. We have lawyers ready to file class-action lawsuits against those we find abusing the public trust and will use available tools and resources like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to aid our cause.
Our charter members include those who contributed to the campaign earlier this year and those who will help us meet our goal in the coming months. In addition, we will depend on you, our supporters, to provide new ideas and directions for much-needed reform.
If you want to help start something that can bring about real change for America, I’m asking you join me by clicking on the "donation" link below and adding your voice to the Campaign for Our America.
We have 22 months before the critical elections of 2008 and the time to start is now. For the last 12 years, Capitol Hill Blue has tried to be there for you, the readers. Now we’re asking you to be there for us.
35 thoughts on “The Campaign for Our America returns”
I’m in Doug. I’ve got a buddy who is a member of pay pal, so I’ll be sending it through him shortly.Time to put our money where our mouth is
Samuel Crook
Glad to be part of the effort. My check was mailed earlier today. Contact me if there’s anything to do on a state level.
A thought. How about using PBS for campaigns. 6 months before an election the entire system gets devoted to campaigns, 24 hours a day. Time slots can be determined by poll numbers (which one, etc. to be decided). Time slots would be 1 hour long and sound bites would not be allowed. Make the candidates stand up and spell out, exactly, where they stand.
This, I think, would allow all viable candidates to speak their mind in a public forum. This would, I suspect, go a long way in reducing the price of campaigns and PBS is the PUBLIC Broadcasting System and would be performing a real public service rather than real public entertainment (although there would be some of that too, I suspect)
Doug, I believe in what you’re doing. Your fifty bucks is on its way via the USPS (unscrupulous sneak and peek service). I do hope you get it.
Best wishes,
Tom
Yes, the government is broken. My solution, ban political parties, except as social groups. No pacs, no contribtions to political campaigns.We will provide free airtime on TV and Radio, and say $5,000 to each candidate. Those who make the best choices win. And maybe, they will know how to handle our money. Any thing purchased by the government, including local government, must be made and supported by US citizens.
I propose a new party, a centrist party. Be warned I will be back.
No money, get the Companies out of our politics.
Doug, The system IS broken & desperately needs fixing. The check is in the mail.
No email although the newsletter did arrive.
Doug,
I am a Canadian citizen but have been reading the CHB for well over a year. The issues you discuss in this venue surely are pertinant to you folks in specific, however, there is also a great overlap with many of these issues in general in Canada.
It is a breath of fresh air to see your initiative Doug and I wish nothing but the best for my American friends whose persuasions also happen to parallel mine.
Keep up the good work
John:
You should have received an email confirmation from me (we sent out most today). Those who contributed by check will be getting thank yous via snail mail.
Also, all contributors will receive our periodic email newsletter.
If you didn’t get an email, please let me know.
Doug
Just curious. If you are sent money through paypal do you send a receipt or is the assumption that paypal records are sufficient.
Doug,
Your proposal is a very worthy one, but how does it differ from Common Cause or People for the American Way or a number of other similar efforts to “reform” our government?
There are probably as many efforts in this area as there are in conservation efforts: Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, American Rivers, to name but a few.
I contribute to a number of programs to ” change ” our politics and to ” improve ” our environment, but I am reluctant to contribute to another, perhaps duplicate or overlapping campaign.
Why can’t these separate efforts be coordinated in a really powerful force for change. That I would support.
We’ve fought the good fight but something was, and is, lacking. Our critics are always quick to point out that while we are there to criticize we do not offer any real solutions to the many problems that confront our nation.
Earlier this year, we tried to address that problem with the launch of The Campaign for Our America, a grassroots organization aimed at serious government reform, media monitoring and fraud watch.
We started strong but we started too late and failed to garner enough grassroots support to operate as a legitimate grassroots organization in key states so I suspended operations for the balance of this election year, knowing that we could regroup after the November mid-terms. Our media monitoring operation continued and we contributed to reports on MSNBC and other networks on stories about bias in news organizations.
—
Doug,
I read every bit of Capitol Hill Blues and are glad that you do what you do for our country and agree with you on much, But Reforming this congress is like re-shuffling the deck of cards…one is liminted to doing what one can do with cards…and it is always using the same cards…We NEED New Cards.
Much more than Reform…We NEED a STRONG 3rd Party in Congress. Americans are fed up with both current parties and rightly so, as there are not two cents worth of difference in them today. In my humble opinion…after watching this Mess since the soup lines of the depression, the only hope for Fixing the problem is to work at getting more and more voters to go independent…No..Not Independent really, although I saw in the news…if we can believe it, some 38% have gone independent already… but to change their Voter Registeration to the Constitution Party …as I did after voting republican for 50 years, and help elect New Cards, as it were,into congress.
Yes, we have to have a New Funding System for all Elections. We should elect our president and vice president…using only Taxpayers funds, also candidates for congress and all other candidates including state, should be liminted to accepting funds only from with in their own districts…No out side funds. Congressional candidates, governors, do not have a need for National Tv Coverage and that is where the real cost comes in…if they want it..,pay for it out of their own pockets.
Our News Media Needs to re-think what they are all about and stop creating so called news, asking the Ford family how they feel about the death of President Ford…going on and on for hours, is not news. One way to force the media is for all of our nations citizens to stop watching the so-called News/Talk shows and the 24 hour Make News Cable shows.
I could say much more but will refrain for the moment.
U’all Be sure and change your voter registration to the Constitutional Party, ya hear!
https://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php#Immigration
Hi Doug,
I’m out of available funds until the 24th of next month, and I won’t be sending $25. I’ll send what I can.
I remember when you initiated this project, you ended up saying something to the effect that if every reader contributed $1 (or thereabouts), you would have made your goal. You might try saying that again. For some people, $25 may not be possible, while a smaller amount just might be.
Meredith
Dick:
Our snail mail address is listed on the donation page at the link on this story or here.
You can also find it on the “Contact us” page at the web site.
–Doug
How can I “snail mail” a check when I do not have your USPS address and cannot find it?
Dick
I despair that it may be too late, but a glimmer of hope lives–so my $100 check will be in the mail before the day is done. Congratulations on carrying out the duties of a “true patriot.”
Great concept. The check is in the mail. Let me know when TCFOA is getting to the state level and how I can be of help.
There is only one thing I want from my government.
For our servants to honor their solemn promise: To preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
“…so help me GoD.”
Let’s start with Article One Section Eight Number Five.
Then let’s enforce the 10th Amendment and repeal everything that violates it.
Tilting at windmills, I know.
Judgement Day isn’t going to be much fun in Washington, D.C.
PEACE
We appreciate everyone’s help. So far, we’ve received $1,100 in donations from 33 readers, meaning we’ve reached 4 percent of our goal after just two days of fundraising.
I hope contributions will pick up next week when everyone gets back from the holidays.
Thank you for everyone who has helped to date.
–Doug
Doug, thank you for all that you do. I have sent the donation, hope that it helps.
Donna
It was I who reported that PayPal charges me $10 for each transaction. I am not a PayPal member. I cancelled my PayPal account after they removed funds from an account without my permission. I have heard that PayPal will not honor a credit card with three months or less until expiration but I cannot verify. I hate PayPal and cannot recommend their services to anyone. They are dishonest and fraudulent IN MY OPINION.
I sent out a check yesterday to The Campaign For Our America.
Kent
I tried, but paypal said my credit card wasn’t useful for the transaction. No reason, it’s paid up, but expires in February. Will be back to try again another time. I don’t like being a member of paypal and I am not, and I couldn’t even find out if the comment about an extra $10 fee was correct. Good luck, I was all for it…..
Doug,
I’m confident the first $25,000 will be covered quickly. I’ll have to convince my wife, this is a worthy cause to write a check. I’m Disabled with a terminal disease. Everything is in my wife’s name, not to have any financial problems, when I go. I would love to be around when we start making noise and heard by our politicians. I know with you involved, the Bang will be loud and clear.
Sent mine. Could you keep us posted on the funding progress ?
Way to go, Doug! My contribution is going out today.
Doug, I’m having my own issues with the Bush Administration and it has to do with the GOP issuing prohibitions on our personal and social lives. The GOP and Dems all seemed to realize the prohibition of alcohol did not work and our War on Drugs has not worked. Why would the Conservatives under Bush now bring their list of prohibitions to the Congress for action?
I pleaded with my own Senator and Congressman to stop this movement to add Amendments to the Constitution that would prohibit gay marriages, stem cell research and even remove Roe v Wade to make abortions a federal offense. These issues are labelled Libertarian to the Conservatives when we all know they were part of the original Conservative movement under Goldwater.
I ask you and the members of the new group to please consider these prohibitions as having no place in the federal government or U.S. Constitution.
Comments are closed.