Given our two highly polarized partisan political parties, there has been no resolve whatsoever for our politicians to pursue - let alone enact - any balanced win-win solutions to our grave national problems. The bulk of their energies are focused on attacking and degrading the ‘enemy’ party. Compounding this toxic proclivity, Congress is wholly subject to the corrosive effects of lobbyists, dark money, and party leaders demanding a pledge of allegiance to the party’s rigid ideology. As a result, when push comes to shove (as it often does) any feeble attempts for popularly-supported compromise solutions are ceremoniously gutted. The floor of Congress is where any legislation for the sake of ‘we the people’ goes to die. While this arrangement is highly beneficial to the rich and powerful, for the American citizenry, our political system has become totally dysfunctional and impotent. It is no wonder that Congress’ disapproval rating is 85%! (Who, one wonders, are the 15% that are happy with such abominable malfeasance?!) Unfortunately, Mark Twain had it right all along in characterizing members of Congress as being “… the smallest minds, the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes.” The sad reality is that Congress will not magically self-correct on its own; we all know the definition of insanity… So we are left with the plight best expressed by Jerry Garcia: “Somebody’s got to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.”

The Thomas Paine Society is a nonpartisan think tank that is committed to joining the fight to save our country. Our mission is fairly simple. We aspire to formulate optimal, viable solutions for America’s challenges through extensive research and public testing. Possessed with these balanced common-sense win-win solutions, we will expend significant resources in advocating their legislation with voters and political candidates. Our goal is the pursuit of a more perfect union - and as such, we will support the ‘good guys’ and true patriots who are placing country over party… and will oppose the ‘bad guys’ who are jeopardizing our future with their despicable self-serving behavior.