"You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer."
                                  --Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Again, welcome. This web site believes that liberal/progressive Democrats have big hearts, bring up many issues that need attention, and are almost always wrong on how to fix the problems they identify. Senator Obama represents liberal/progressive ideals and solutions that we find simply wrong for America.

We also believe that conservatives often have better solutions, but that the Republican Party is disorganized, weak-kneed, self-serving and currently too eager to accommodate liberalism. We wish they would stand up for the beliefs they purported to embrace while they were campaigning for office, and we don't think the American people are being well served.

Neither party is all good or all bad, and both camps have valid positives and troubling weaknesses. Each camp is lying or obfuscating on various things, as usual, and the mainstream media are not a reliable filter between events and the public. This site is for the average citizen who needs a place to contribute and be heard, and is dedicated to electing principled conservatives that we can proud of, not Republicans or Democrats.

The members will interpret the parties, the candidates, the promises, the real world, and the rhetoric from a conservative point of view. The parties are not now what they have historically been, or what they will be in the future. As conservatives, we will not only interpret words and deeds through the conservative lens, but also evaluate and define the lens itself. That is, there are as many definitions of conservatism as there are liberalism or progressivism, and AmericanPlatform.org will eventually represent our member's interpretation of conservatism. This will be a fresh and ongoing interpretation, but without a change in core values.

Many of us are sick to death of being told we are evil hatemongers because we lean conservative. We're disgusted with touchy-feely, short term "solutions" to problems that aren't solutions at all. We are tired of hearing that America is a racist, sexist, homophobic country that the world just doesn't like. We're fed up with leftist media, political correctness, and rampant negativity about America.

We can plainly see that the Democrats have done little to help us actually win the war in Iraq, and have in fact done everything they could to undermine not only the military effort, but also the Commander in Chief. We're well aware that the United Nations is riddled with tyrants, appeasers, and crooks that use the money and good nature of the American people against us. We know that without America, people all over the world would be at great risk of losing freedom and security, and that many of the countries that receive our support and protection are badmouthing us and working against us.

We see that the progressives and environmentalists contributed disproportionately to our terrible position regarding energy supplies, and that they are still trying to stop us from using the resources we have available to us. We're pretty darn sure that if the government ever gets control of our healthcare it will be a catastrophic boondoggle. We realize that the last 30 years have seen a decline in the importance of family, morals, education and civility with an attendant rise in perceived victimhood and government entitlements, along with persistent complaining.

We know that we hate the idea of the big government nanny state, and that punishing hard working and successful people with high taxes is a socialistic income redistribution plan that will kill the soul and drive of America. We know all this and much more. And we've had it.

The members of this site will build a pro-American political platform on which either individual politicians or a political party can run for office and win with popular support. Motivated out of frustration with what we view as poor government, this site will endeavor to be a constructive outlet for We The People. This is not an attempt to create a third party, but if the Republicans, traditionally home to the preponderance of conservatives, will not pay attention to the wishes of their constituents then maybe a third party will blossom and claim the constituents for their own. If so, fine. Because it's not about the party, it's about the people and the future of the country.

It's said that the American people want change, and that 80% think we're headed in the wrong direction. What's not clear is exactly which direction America should go. The media seems to assume that because George W. Bush was unpopular, the American people want what President Elect Obama wants, which is more often than not what they, the media, want.

But there are millions of conservatives in fly-over country that disagree on many things with Obama and the left, and they are angry that there are so few politicians that have the guts to stand up for conservative principles and policies. This site is for these everyday citizens that are so often overlooked or ignored. The progressives talk endlessly about "hearing other voices". But they routinely care only about the voices that agree with them, and often ridicule those who don't. This site will be our response.

It often seems that We The People has become All of Us Individual Separate Groups. This site will consider members and nonmembers as Americans first and foremost, and strive to promote what we think is best for the common good. It will be thought out, researched, and written by members of this site, and will evolve continually. The Forum will tap the ideas and energies of the members, enabling average citizens to create a viable political platform and repository for conservative opinion and ideas.

We don't need to reinvent the wheel. There is much commentary and research already available and in print, and this continues daily. Intelligent and well-informed people are making the conservative case on an ongoing basis, and there is a broad array of conservative opinion, ideas, and analysis of the liberal/progressive agenda. American Platform.org will champion those ideas that make the most sense to our members, and we will humbly add our input to the mix.

However, without a political party that agrees with us, and that fields candidates who will defend conservative positions, nothing happens. To our great frustration, this is the current state of affairs. Right now there are millions of Americans, mostly Republicans and Independents, who are not in favor of what the current crop of Democrats have become, or what they plan to do with their power. But all the insight, analysis and proposed solutions are in a sense just taking up space without effect. The conservative movement currently exists in a vacuum, largely without advocates in positions of power. Who in power is fighting for what we believe in? Certainly not the Democrats, but too often not the Republicans either.

The various core ideas and principles of conservatism have already been identified and discussed time and again by commentators and pundits. Millions agree with much of what they hear and read, but are thoroughly disgusted with the Republican Party for its lack of leadership, discipline, responsiveness, and courage. We are at the end of our rope with the Republicans and were not happy that John McCain was the nominee. We may have voted for him, if only to prevent Senator Obama from reaching the White House, but we were not happy about it.

The overarching goal of AmericanPlatform.org will be to harness the most important and fundamental concepts and principles into an actual political platform, one that our members want a party or individual politicians to embrace and stand up for. Rather than put out an entirely new platform every four years like most political parties do, we'll update ours continually. But we'll do much more than that. This site will cover all areas of American life, politics, and America's place in the world so that politicians will know what the members of American Platform.org expect from their representatives.

Politely given arguments over issues, points of fact or points of view will be enthusiastically welcomed. But this site is about starting from where we are right now in America and moving forward, and we are not going to endlessly rehash what has already been done. Instead, we'll focus on what we think will be best for America in the future, and always with our constitution in mind. The goal is to nail down sensible positions on matters of importance to the American people and to come up with solutions that our government seems incapable of providing at this time. It is the firm position of this site that the liberal/progressive agenda is not right for America, and we will do all we can to bring to light what it is they are actually proposing and what the ramifications are and will likely be.

This site will be unabashedly pro-American, and will be as positive in its outlook as possible. We have plenty of brainpower, ingenuity, common sense, and freedom in this country to tackle any problem with a can-do attitude. The Federal government, however, has become so nonfunctional that it takes ten months to form a commission to authorize a subcommittee to investigate a problem or idea. The subcommittee then has ten million dollars of our tax money and three years to come up with a report with recommendations. The recommendations are often for more time and money to study the original problem, which by now has either changed or is irrelevant.

This site will look to marshal the resources at our disposal -our members- the way the government should, but doesn't. Identify an issue, consider suggestions for addressing it, gather relevant information ASAP, kick some ideas around, and then...something that seems to be impossible in Washington...make a decision!

We can be faster and more organized, and we can make use of something that has almost completely disappeared from government: common sense. A can-do spirit and some good old-fashioned American know-how will be far more effective and useful in creating a viable political platform and solving real problems than anything to come out of Washington in a long time.

The next step is How It Works.