Make Our Government Work Again! (MOGWA) – The Coalition of Independent Voters

The Dilemma and Our Purpose

Our 2-Party system of government has served us well – until it hasn’t. The two major parties are now so split and the debate so counter-productive, that no solutions can be enacted. There is no check and balance on rampant spending – the buying of votes to stay in power. There is no agreement on what is the best way to move forward. Budget induced shutdowns every few months are the norm.

Simply: Our government is dysfunctional.

The problem is the two parties themselves – and their failure is not simply the choice they have put before us for President. They serve special interests – those that pay a lot for influence, and they also serve their own party interests, but all of this is at the cost of the Peoples’ interests.

This is called the “Swamp.”

This status quo remains because they don’t have to compete. To maintain their grip on power, they gerrymander – or draw Congressional districts in such a way to ensure victory in uncompetitive races. They put up barriers to third parties or independent candidates in many states – further locking their grip on power. They rely on money – lots of it – to stay entrenched in power for as long as they desire.

Our Purpose is to break the grip of the two parties on American Politics – so our government is responsive to the People. We seek to elect people who will carry out policies that bring about change we can ALL believe in: To Make Our Government Work Again.

Scott A. Rappoport

Draining "The Swamp"

Ronald Reagan first coined this phrase (YES! Ronald Reagan, not Donald Trump) back in the 1980s, but we are still left with a swamp that is stinkier, bigger, and boggier than what it was back then with a budget deficit of $1.7 Trillion compared to the $175 billion under Reagan — a 10 fold increase.

Three Sources That Keep The Swamp Full:

Money. Lots of it. The Federal budget is over $6 Trillion, and candidates in 2020 spent close over $14 trillion across the board with the Biden and Trump spending $2.74 billion.
The elected officials who keep drawing the money in and keep the Swamp from being drained. They stay in office for a very long time since there are no term limits in Congress.
The enabler is that State Houses adopt policies and draw lines that maintain the incumbency that results in intransigence.

MOGWA seeks to attack each of these issues.

Ushering in an Age of Accountability:

Our system of government is an ingenious system of checks and balances which guard us from abuse of power and excess by one group. It allows for members of the government to be held accountable.

However, when both parties controlling the levers of government fail in
their responsibilities to the People, it is necessary for the People themselves to hold the parties responsible.

We seek to disrupt the two parties’ control of government and Usher in
an Age of Accountability in Government. We do this by voting them out and replacing them with people who are committed to the vision and ideas outlined below.

Merit Over Money

We run our campaigns judiciously. If we are voted in, money becomes a liability to campaigns.

Culture of Teamwork

Instill a new culture of Teamwork in our representatives based on Cooperation and “Mutual Respect and Dignity” to deliver results and solutions at every level of government.

Responsive Gov’t & Competitive Races

Break the stranglehold of the two major parties on Congressional races by ending gerrymandering, requiring an open primary system, and setting term limits.

Efficient Law Enactment

With so much to do, shouldn’t the Houses unite to provide solutions?

Common Sense Policies

Policies designed to go where the other parties fail to go or avoid. These non-nonsense policies by Common Sense Majority are the key.

Policy Formation

Wouldn’t it be GREAT if your Rep were closer and you worked directly?

What would you give to make these changes

a reality?

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Rebuild Trust & Compromise

Republicans and Democrats are polarized to the special interests and the extreme wings of the party. We want to combine forces of their centrist, compromising elements of their parties to
advance meaningful legislation.

Return Civility In Discourse

This polarization between parties has resulted in mean-spirited talk and shrill accusations. How can there be bipartisan support to solve problems when there is such bad-blood between sides? We seek to unite sides by returning to civility in discourse based on mutual respect and dignity.

Remove Entrenched Incumbents

We believe nothing - NOTHING! - will refocus and rededicate the energies of the two dominant
parties than for them to lose power. We seek to take seats from the 2 parties until they direct their focus back on the People.

Make Big Money a Liability

If we elect our officials based on merit of ideas and NOT money, we do what years of finance regulation never did: we make excess cash a liability to a candidate! We seek to be elected based on the quality of our candidates and the merit of our ideas. Big Money stands no chance next to this!

Calls To Action

The changes CIV and MOGWA seek to bring about are both changes in culture and how we view each other along with several Constitutional amendments.

The major thrust of our movement is to elect many new representatives with integrity and commitment to change, both at the State Level and the Federal Level. The action we seek requires a “reboot” of the government with new members to pass Constitutional Amendments.These require two-thirds majorities in Congress, and three-fourths of the states to pass them. Alternatively, 34 states can propose them to convene a Constitutional Convention for passage. This may take some time – over several election cycles, but we must start now.

Current members will not pass these measures (except for maybe the first and fourth one) since they directly affect their entrenched privileged – and seemingly permanent – status. Hence the need for sweeping change with new people.

Amendment 1: Codify Number of Supreme Court Justices to Nine

It may seem like a “no-brainer” this one, but Progressive Democrats sought to increase the number of members to 11 or even 13. This is an EXTREMELY severe assault on the Constitution and the separation of powers it enshrines for the sake of political advantage.

Codifying this simple, fundamental aspect of our highest court in our Constitution will render such political manipulation moot, and will secure the separation of 3 coequal branches of government.

Amendments 2 & 3: Term Limits for Federal Reps & Senators

It may surprise many, but we have Representatives who have been in Congress for over 40 years. Many Senators are now in their 90’s. While experience is desired and good, entrenchment leads to unresponsive government. Our government thrives on new blood and ideas. While we are open to debate on the exact number, we propose limits of 16 to 20 years (8 to 10 terms) for Representatives, and either 18 or 24 years (3 or 4 terms) for Senators. This allows for experience to be gained and used for the good of the country, but not so long as to become stale.

State House Elections/End to Gerrymandering

People often ignore State House races in favor of Federal races, but State Houses are responsible for the boundaries of Federal Congressional districts. We have a name for it when the party in power often seeks to draw those boundaries to keep members of their own party in office with a minimum of competition: Gerrymandering.

This is another reason to bring in fresh blood into state politics.

We seek to elect impartial, even headed assembly members who will create districts which both naturally follow economic, demographic, and geographic lines while providing a competitive district so that representatives must respond and address their constituents’ concerns. A Representative who does this will not have to worry about competition; He or she will succeed. However, a Representative that doesn’t have to worry about competing may not be responsive to the entirety of his or her area.

Reform The Primary Process

We must reform the primary process so that primaries are open regardless of political affiliation AND produce a slate of competing candidates that are not from the same party.

Open primaries alone will not lead to more choice or responsive government. There must be mechanisms in place to assure we have a diversity of choices in the General Elections.We can use California as a poster child of a failed open primary system. California has open primaries, but often the top two candidates are Democrats —resulting in no choice for voters at all.

California now has a super majority – over 75% Democrats – in both of its state houses. Open primaries alone will not result in more responsive government.

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