Our Cause:
We believe we Center of the Road, No Labels with an understanding that:
- Free markets are best but they sometimes fail and need oversight
- Progressive taxation has been weakened in recent years resulting in too little being paid by the very wealthy. But soak the rich is not the answer. All of us need to pay slightly more in taxes.
- Fiscal responsibility is key to our country’s security and strength. For the past 18 years the government has not been as fiscally responsible as it should have been. This means projecting out revenue and expense and dealing with extremely large deficits the US will face unless hard choices are made very soon. All items need to be on the table to create balance – reducing some entitlements (Medicare, Social Security), raising some taxes, having the rich pay some more, having all of us pay some more, reducing defense somewhat. We cannot get back into balance without compromise across the board.
- Trump is a risk to our democracy, our standing in the World, and to our economy. Irresponsible tax cuts and tariffs will not get us to where we need to go. Bluster and self-love at everyone else’s expense is not only not Christian; it will not work in the long run. This is how dictators govern. We need to be wary of his lack of self-knowledge.
- Immigration should be done based on the needs of the US, but the policies need to be rational and devoid of Trump’s racist overtones. We need to remember that some immigrants contribute more than some citizens, and are a needed source of talent and labor. But entry should be selective to supply what is needed by the country.
- The Democratic party needs to get back to its roots – support of the well-being of the vast majority of the country, avoiding identity politics. Yes Democrats value diversity; this is the secret sauce of the US. But the goal is not diversity for diversity’s sake. It is to provide creativity, drive and talent at various levels of the economy to add to internal capabilities.
- Republicans have their contribution to make as the party of business and fiscal responsibility. They need to return to that identify and not the extremes we’ve seen in the last 25 years.
- Perhaps a centrist party is needed in the end to split the extremes on the left and the right and to return compromise and sound thinking to our government.
- The one exception to avoidance of identity politics is woman. It is not a lifestyle being protected, but basic rights of 50% of the population. Rights to equal pay, right to not be harassed or sexually assaulted in and out of the workplace need to be protected. Woman deserve the right to choose to work in the home or the workplace. It is their choice. Woman are as important as men to the future of our Country.
- LGBT rights impact an important group of citizens; their right to make choices and live their lives in peace and without harm is important and needs to be protected. As does everybody need to be protected. But it is the middle – its culture, the health of our schools, the emphasis on community and living standards, that needs more emphasis.
The Publisher
Bill Hurst, the Publisher of “Support the Center”, is a new blogger as of 2017. He has considered blogging about the need for our politics to move to the center since 2015, but it was the tumultuous election of 2016, and his fear that our democracy and standing in the world are in danger unless we move back to the Center, that has forced his hand towards political self-expression, which till now has been foreign to his nature.
Bill is a life-long reader of politics, philosophy and economics. These, he believe, along with life experiences, form the basis for rational politics.
Bill emphasizes and encourages sound thinking – synthesis and absorption of good ideas. Reading a variety of carefully selected articles and reviews from experts are a key element used in these blogs to think about policy.