Contract From America Nearing Phase 2
During the past several months, hundreds of thousands of members of the free-market, limited government activist community has collected and debated hundreds of potential solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems at www.contractfromamerica.com. We thank you for all your help! The final date for submitting ideas on this site is January 24, 2010.
Right now, we are in the process of narrowing down all the ideas submitted, and we want you to be part of the process. Please go to
www.spiritof94.org, and help us by taking the survey. This survey is the next step in a process that will help us identify 20 of the most important issues that resonate with the grassroots community. Following your help finalizing the list, an online vote will be held in February and March, with the final list of 10-12 ideas being unveiled at the April 15th rallies as the Contract from America.
This Contract from America will have a strong grassroots narrative and will create a reform-minded platform led by a broad-based coalition of grassroots activists, public policy organizations, and new media leaders.
Contract From America
CONTRACT FROM AMERICA FAQs
What is the Contract From America?
The Contract From America is the ultimate grassroots democratic experiment. The tea party movement has the potential of completely reshaping
American politics. But to achieve this goal, we need to be proactive, rather than just reactive.
The Contract From America project allows you to play a key role in developing a 10-point economic conservative plan that we can use to push for
real reform in Washington. Submit your ideas and vote and comment on those of other fellow patriots.
How do I submit an idea or vote for someone else’s idea?
First you need to register. If you have already registered for Tea Party Patriots, then you need to sign in.
After signing in, type your idea in the box on the front page, click the category in which your idea falls, and click the Submit Button.
To vote on ideas, click on the category listed on the left part of the screen that interests you, view the listing of ideas and click the star rating system to indicate your level of approval for an idea. Click the Add Comment button under each idea if you wish to submit an idea.
Why is the Preamble important?
The preamble is a statement of the philosophical underpinnings of the tea party movement and Contract From America. All ideas submitted must coincide with the precepts expressed in the Preamble.
Will the ideas with the most positive response in each category end up in the final version of the Tea Party Contract?
Not necessarily. While we believe strongly in democratic values, we recognize that sometimes the most popular idea is not always the best, most viable idea. As such, after a 3-month submission period, the Contract From America Leadership Committee will review the most popular ideas in each category, and will hold an open, transparent meeting, where the best ideas will be debated. The Committee will narrow these ideas down to two or three of the best ideas per category. The grassroots movement will then be able to vote both online and potentially at grassroots events for the ideas they want to see in the Contract From America. At this stage, a majority vote will determine the winning ideas.
Which ideas will end up in the final Contract From America? How will we decide?
See above answer.
Can I submit an idea already submitted by someone else?
You cannot submit an idea that is one of the 10 most popular ideas per category at the time you wish to submit it. We will remove any idea that is already listed and popular. This is to prevent repetitive ideas crowding the top-10. You can simply give a thumbs-up to the idea already listed and provide comments on how you would improve/slightly reform the idea. If the idea is not listed in the top-10 per category, you can re-submit it. Beware, though, that submitting a repetitive idea may lead to split votes.
What other interactive opportunities will be available on the website?
In time, we hope to have online debates with top public policy professionals about ideas submitted by you, online chats and interviews with those who submit the strongest and most popular ideas, and a local action section that will allow tea party leaders all over the country to bring media attention and additional grassroots support to the document.
Why not just write up a Contract From America yourself?
A document written by just a few people, even if they are tea party leaders, lacks the authority and power of a document created by a grassroots process. Plus, this innovative, democratic experiment has the potential of generating a lot more excitement for the Contract From America than a document created by a few people on top. Additionally, we believe the tea party movement is perfectly suited to an experimental process like this. At the end of the day, the tea party movement is about the people, not about the leaders.
Will I get credit for my ideas?
Yes. If your idea is chosen by fellow patriots for the final version of the Contract From America, your name will be listed next to the idea if you want it to be. You will be given ownership of your idea.
What will you do with the final Contract From America?
The Contract From America will be used to influence politicians and the general population about the strength of our movement and our ideas. Politicians will have to accept and sign the Contract or face the possibility of a large and unified movement against them. Local tea parties will have the opportunity of using the document to effect real change in local races. Our belief is that the Contract From America will influence the 2010 election and bring real economic conservative change to Washington and the state houses.