The Grand bargain Advances six critical Objectives
Economic Mobility
Boosting economic mobility and growth
Climate Change
Powering the economy with clean energy
Education
Reforming education so students reach their potential
National Debt
Curbing the national debt
Health Care
Making healthcare more effective and less costly
Tax Code
Making the tax code fairer and simpler
Why these issues have been impossible to resolve
Dysfunctional Political System
Our elections are structured so that candidates can win more easily by assailing the other side than by trying to bridge differences.
legislative silos
Each law was enacted to satisfy some voters, interest groups and politicians. The laws thereby contradict one another, severely limiting their effectiveness.
no forum for collaboration
Well-organized groups have more influence on Capitol Hill than a disorganized public, and all lack a forum for bridging differences.
Loss aversion
Voters who fear they will lose ground from major reform fight against it much harder than potential beneficiaries work to enact it.
Strategy
how to overcome these barriers
Bypass Washington’s dysfunctions and remove legislative silos — by enlisting 13 top former federal officials and think leaders to replace contradictory laws in each area with common-sense reforms.
Refine the combined reforms until confident that every sector of society would significantly benefit.
Constantly update the evolving grand bargain with input from citizens, civic leaders and stakeholders in the six areas.
Engage the American people in group meetings and online to create a grassroots movement for positive change
Project timeline
Key Phases of the Grand Bargain Project
By dividing the project into distinct phases, we focus our efforts into measurable outcomes toward our overarching goals.
Done: Proof of Concept
In our breakout session at the Braver Angels national convention in late June, each attendee started out with different political priorities, ranging from very liberal to very conservative. Yet when we presented a summary of the evolving grand bargain, all but one preferred it over the country’s current direction. Half the attendees said they wanted their local chapters to hold a similar event in order to help start a national movement.
In-Progress: Spark a Grassroot Movement
We are partnering with grassroots organizations to show their members how a six-issue grand bargain could unite most Americans into a political movement large enough to promote unprecedented progress on all six issues and reverse the downward slide of our democracy.
We are also using social-digital media to reach the 100+ million citizens who hunger for progress in these six areas, but feel powerless to affect change, the so-called “exhausted majority.” Our message: By uniting around a common-sense grand bargain, we would become a movement that anyone who shares our aspirations would have every reason to join.
Mobilizing the Public
Grand Bargain Action Network will build voter support.
Center for collaborative democracy
Sponsor of the Grand Bargain Project. We strive to help every American reach their potential by working with business leaders, consumer advocates, labor unions, environmentalists, civil rights groups and other major stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for our nation’s most critical problems. We see that process as necessary to reduce the hyper-polarization that threatens our democracy.