FixUS is a group of Americans united in shared concern over the divided state of our country. We believe that healing these divisions is our highest national priority, and essential to preparing our nation to face the defining challenges of the 21st century. 

The American experiment is among the most remarkable and improbable achievements in human history. Yet today that experiment may be at risk. Our political leaders are neither willing nor able to achieve compromise on a range of pressing issues. Washington is focused on short-term fixes instead of long-term solutions, and both parties put partisanship over progress. Incivility has come to rule our political discourse, inside Washington and across the country.

It doesn’t have to be this way. FixUS believes Americans must demand more of the leaders and institutions – political, economic, and civic – that increasingly have failed to earn our trust. We stand for change that will open our politics to fresh ideas and new participants, open the doors of the middle class to all hard working Americans, and bring Americans together in harmony instead of acrimony to create a new agenda for the 21st century. 

The reality is we can ill-afford to wait. As long as the current state of affairs continues, we will neglect pressing challenges and opportunities, from our national debt, to preparing our children for an ever more competitive environment, to the rise of new global economic and military competitors. If we don’t face up to the fundamental problem of fixing our system, we have little hope of surmounting others. 

At FixUS, we envision an America that:

• Restores faith in our politics through a more open system in Washington, one that rewards progress over partisanship and is more representative of, and responsive to, the American public;

• Restores faith that Americans who play by the rules can get ahead, by addressing the root causes of income disparities, economic immobility, and persistent economic insecurity in the richest nation on Earth, and;

• Restores Americans’ faith in one another and our collective ability to solve problems and create an ever more inclusive, free and prosperous nation.  

FixUS leverages the experience and network of the Campaign to Fix the Debt to help bring new visibility and supporters to a budding movement for political system change. 

FixUS will be rolling out during the first part of 2019. Its first initiative is the FixUS Nationwide Roadshow & Listening Tour, which is traveling the country to better understand how citizens feel about the troubled state of politics and what may be causing our divisions. By speaking before and engaging with local audiences around the country, the tour’s goal is to help encourage broader national and local conversation about the need to fix our political system and possible solutions. 

Additional FixUS initiatives include working with thought leaders to craft a national narrative on the root causes of what is pulling the country apart and how we can forge a path forward; partnering with a global polling firm to better understand our root anxieties, our national values and possible solutions; and forming a network of  former government officials, and business and civic leaders to engage in events, media, and other tactics to draw attention to these issues during the 2020 election cycle.

Paul Stebbins spoke to the City Club of the Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, Ohio on October 14, 2019. Listen to the podcast.

Request a Roadshow Event.

As we take our message across the country, I wanted to share a recent experience to help highlight the impact we are having.

I had the privilege recently of addressing over 1,000 high school  students at the Junior State of America Winter Congress just outside of Washington, DC (pictured, right). To say it was an inspiring event would be an understatement.

Speaking with them about the debt, what effect it will have on their future, and how it is symbolic of our hyper-partisan political  environment, this crowd of future leaders was deeply engaged.

I know I struck a chord when I asked students to raise their hand if they think political polarization prevents our ability to address issues like the debt – every hand went up.

We had similar success at another recent event at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Paul Stebbins spoke to 200 people on the topic of: “Trillion Dollar Deficits: How the National Debt Symbolizes Our Broken Political System.” Other recent events were held in Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Omaha, Nebraska.

Our roadshow events are often hosted by local civic, community, and business groups, as well as academic institutions. They encourage dialogue among audiences around the country about the roots of our political dysfunction and how we can fix it in order to address growing debt and other challenges facing us. If you are a member or are  otherwise connected to such groups, we would like to hear from you about hosting an event in your area.

Request a Roadshow Event.

In addition, local Fix the Debt leader, Buzz Garlock, wrote a great op-ed in the Omaha World-Herald that is worth reading and sharing.

No budget. On the brink of default. It’s a hell of a way to run a country. - Washington Post - July 17, 2019

The question to ask in 2020 - The Fulcrum - June 27, 2019

Disastrous record deficits threaten US future yet barely make a ripple in Washington - USA Today - April 12, 2019

Fixing debt and our broken system must be national priorities - Austin American-Statesman - December 13, 2018