What are the biggest problems facing America? Why do we see these as the biggest problems? Is it because our politicians or the media have told us to think this way, or is it because we have critically thought about these issues ourselves?

We believe one of the biggest fundamental problems in our country is the trustworthiness (or lack thereof) of our politicians and media. All too often, our politicians and media leverage political divisions in our country for their own advantage. They encourage us to ignore critical problems, such as the mortgage crisis and the national debt, while diverting our attention to a host of less important issues. One aspect of this website is to provide citizens the ability to voice their concerns so that we can properly understand the concerns that people have.

Unlike some politicians, we do not believe that any one person can ever be an expert on every issue or can ever be aware of every problem that every citizen faces. Thus, this forum provides a mechanism for us to listen and discuss issues with the people in an open format.  We hope you will join us in this discussion.

Recently the Republican National Committee conducted a Survey on America's Future and asked, which is the biggest single problem facing America today?

• Al-Qaeda and radical Islamic terrorism
• Government-run health care
• Government debt
• Interference in free enterprise system
• Rogue states like Iran and North Korea
• National Energy Tax
• Unsecure borders
• Decline in moral values

Are these the real issues that matter at the moment? Surely each of these things is important, but are these really the most important issues currently facing Americans in general and the voters of Virginia's 10th Congressional District specifically?

Could there be something of deeper and more fundamental concern to all of us in America today? We believe so.

Critical Reflection by the Voters

Let us take a step back and consider this question carefully to cut through the noise and get to the real issues--not just the issues that the political parties or the media attempt to convince us are the real issues. 

Critical reflection by the voters is an important issue, because left unchecked, the parties want our money and our votes, and the media wants our mindshare for ratings and to guide our interpretations of events.  These things are not inherently bad, of course, but they need to be checked. Critical reflection by the voters on these tough issues is required. We should not outsource this to any political party or media personality.

The basic issue here is trust.  A wide range polls make it crystal clear that most Americans are showing a significantlack of trust in our President, our representatives in Congress, and in the media.  (It's ironic that the two groups most responsible for polarization in America--politicians and the media--are among our greatest sources of unity.) Why don't Americans trust politicians or the media?  This campaign believes the reason is that, by and large, Americans trust themselves better to make sense of the issues, and they trust the free markets to resolve most economic issues.

The political parties should understand this, especially the Republican Party as the stated party of limited government.  Many actions taken by Republicans in Washington suggest otherwise. Perhaps that is why recent polls state that today's GOP is far out of step with the American people.  Rasmussen has recently conducted a survey to find that "73% think Republicans in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters from throughout the nation." Yet, the data also tells us that conservative values are not at all out of step with the American people.  Gallup polls say more Americans consider themselves conservative than liberal.  In 2008, only 22 percent of Americans said they are liberal--the high point for liberals since 1992.  In addition, independents are moving more to the conservative side than to the left.

Conservative Leadership from the Grassroots Up

That's why Jim Trautz is running as a conservative, grassroots Republican.  The grassroots of American politics is largely conservative--though it is not necessarily Republican.  Our concern is that the present GOP is driven more by money and favoritism than winning conservative ideas and public service with integrity.

That said, our campaign does not want to represent only Republicans.  We want to represent all people who believe the government has a defined role as enumerated in the Constitution, and we must limit the government to those enumerated powers, and no more. We also want to engage all people who have experienced firsthand the many benefits of government-provided social services.  We know that there are poverty-stricken, underprivileged, and undereducated Americans who need help, and unfortunately the government is currently the only provider to whom they are turning for medical care, education, food, and other important resources. 

These are tough issues. We need to truly engage across partisan lines and discuss what the government should and should not do, within its Constitutional constraints. We must not have this discussion to favor a political party, but to do what is right and to solve real problems. One problem with growing government is that the more people that depend on the government, the more those costs get passed on to others.  When our fellow citizens who depend on governmentbecome dependent upon government, what are we to do?  That forms one of the toughest issues of democratic self-government.

The Needed Dialog

Another tough issue is the role of the media in public debate.  Unfortunately, some voices in the media would have people believe that the grassroots movement is s fringe group to the right of moderate republicans. That is a crude and inaccurate construction. 

The grassroots movement we represent in this campaign is not about left vs. right as much as it is about up vs. down. According to a recent Gallup poll, not only do few Americans trust the media, but "about three times as many see the press as liberally biased as opposed to pro-conservative." Media bias hinders the needed dialog.

The data makes it clear that politicians and the media, whether knowingly or not, tend to divide Americans along partisan lines.  This divisiveness in political communication represents one of the biggest issues in current politics. Before we dive into solutions for the issues, we want to impress on our fellow citizens that each of us must step back and critically reflect on the issues, and on who we allow to define the terms of the debate. Who do we trust?

Back to Square One

Like Rahm Emanuel, we believe this is no time to waste a crisis. In this clear crisis of confidence, it is high time to go back to square one--liberty. Our Framer's looked at the tough issues of their time, and they sided with the liberty of the individual. So do we.