Common Sense Again
FOR ITS 250TH YEAR

Common Sense Again

THE PROBLEM

Our government works exactly as designed — but in modern days it produces outcomes almost nobody wants.

THE FIX

Politicians who reflect what Americans believe, not just the loudest voices — and who solve problems instead of fueling gridlock, corruption, and self-dealing.

Start with the OverviewRead the Document
THE THREE REPAIRS, AT A GLANCE
01 · Politicians Who Reflect Us

One primary ballot, independent maps, no stock trading in office — so the people who win are built to solve problems, not pick fights.

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02 · Borders and Citizens

Border and legal immigration, fixed together, in the same bill.

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03 · Honest Budgets

A binding debt rule, an ownership stake for every American, and limited protection beneath it.

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The fight is worth more to the people having it than the fix is.

— Chapter III, Why It Happens Anyway
WE KEEP ALMOST FIXING THINGS

None of this is hypothetical. Four times in the last eighteen months, Congress got most of the way to a real fix — and stopped exactly short of the part that would have solved it for good. That pattern is the argument: the ideas aren’t fringe, the follow-through is what’s missing.

ENACTED
Seeded newborn investment accounts
Every newborn American now gets an investment account. More than six million are already open.
What’s missing: It doesn't touch the retirement system it sits on — Social Security is unchanged underneath it, so the 2032 shortfall hasn't moved.
ENACTED
Outcome-based student lending
Student loans are now tied to whether graduates can actually repay them.
What’s missing: The provision making colleges share the loss when their own programs fail was written into the bill — then removed in the Senate. Students carry the consequence; the institutions carry none of it.
PASSED
Congressional stock-trading ban
A ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks passed the House, 232–198.
What’s missing: It doesn't require members to sell what they already own. The exact conflict of interest 86% of the country objected to remains legal for every member who currently has one.
WRITTEN, NOT PASSED
The 2024 border bill
Three senators negotiated the most serious border bill in a generation — a real, workable deal, fully drafted.
What’s missing: It never passed. Its own Republican author voted against it on the floor, after his own party's leadership turned against it.
Read the full chapter →
THE DOCUMENT

Common Sense Again, in eleven chapters

Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, taken up again in its 250th year. About 19 minutes end to end — or read any chapter on its own.

  1. IThe Vote That Explains Everything2 min
  2. IIWe Agree More Than We've Been Told1 min
  3. IIIWhy It Happens Anyway4 min
  4. IVThe Bill Coming Due1 min
  5. VWhat I'm Actually After1 min
  6. VIThe Three Repairs1 min
  7. VIIThe One Test1 min
  8. VIIIWe Keep Almost Fixing Things2 min
  9. IXWhat Isn't Here2 min
  10. XHow We Will Know If It Worked2 min
  11. XIA Closing Word2 min

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Occasional updates when a chapter changes or the scorecard moves. Nothing else.

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