The Reset Party Manifesto

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best" (Otto von Bismark) which is sometimes translated to "Politics is the art of compromise."

The U.S. Government is a Representative Democracy. In order for a Representative Democracy to be effective there must be genuine competition, free communication and meaningful choice in the selection of leadership.

Anonymous, unlimited, poorly regulated political campaign contributions and gerrymandered congressional districts have significantly eroded those three basic requirements of effective government and has curtailed the possibility of compromise resulting in gridlock.

The Reset Party will be a coalition of political candidates and office holders, of any formal party affiliation, that are committed to two reforms that will restore and reset the Representative Democracy intended and outlined in the US Constitution.

Campaign Spending Reform:

Eliminate dark money from political campaigns.

            Require full disclosure of all individuals contributing to campaign advertisements and materials.

Restrict campaign contributions to individuals.

Limit individual contributions to each campaign.

Undo Citizens United decision.

            Establish that corporations are not people.

            Prohibit corporate campaign contributions.

Implement spending limits on campaigns.

Congressional Districting Reform:

The purpose of the bicameral legislature is to have the Senate represent by State and the House of Representative represent by population and region. More than 100 years of redrawing and reshaping has resulted in Congressional Districts that reflect the political demographics and not the regional population.

Establish a non-partisan re-districting commission in each of the fifty states. Each commission will be charged with drawing new congressional districts that reflect only population and geographic boundaries.

Establish a statistically based judicial oversight review process for re-districting.

Reset Party Commitment

The members of the Reset Party are committed to restoring genuine competition, free communication and meaningful choice in the selection of political leadership.

Until legislation is passed that accomplishes the goals outlined above, members of the Reset Party will only vote for legislation that has at least 10% of its support from the minority viewpoint of that particular legislation. Since absolutes are counter productive to compromise and progress, each Reset Member will limit the number of times they vote outside of the above guidelines to 3 - 5 votes per session.