Since we’re only a few months into the new administration we are taking a wait and see approach before assessing Trump’s policies. The economy always has ups and downs so we may not know the full picture until at least a year into his term.

What we do know is that both Republicans and Democratsshould be able to agree on something.

As far as the DOGE cuts are concerned, you could argue theyneed to just get it done or that they are moving too fast. But Congress should be able to agree on cutting at least 10% of such an enormous federal budget. That could be a starting point for bipartisanship. 

The Republicans also need to pass a budget. It’s kind of abig part of Congress’ job. 

Since the Republicans have control of both the Executive andLegislative branches now would be the time to show they are capable of governing. 

We recorded this the day before Congress passed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown. 

The vote was mostly along party lines… which proved the GOP is taking advantage of its power while the Democrats continue to fumble along with little creativity to moderate the DOGE process. 

Just imagine if there were just a few more Independents around that could force discussions on solving problems versus constant partisan mood swings that impact our lives.

If you agree, we’ll need more people to come over toCoalition Purple and support independent and third party candidates.

“On Again, Off Again” is the name of the game these days. Whether it’s tariffs, peace talks, or Supreme Court rulings, the only thing we can expect is that everything will change by tomorrow.

 Trump’s tariff strategies would perplex the most seasoned chess master. Will the tariffs of today be suspended and maybe even reinstated by next week? There’s no way to know. 

 Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has created a need for the Supreme Court to provide clarity regarding the separation and balance of powers betweenthe Executive and Legislative branches. We need this ASAP but they’ve avoided ruling on some of these important issues if a technicality allows them to throw the case back to the district court. (We’re talking to you, Justice Roberts.)

 And Congress can’t even come to an agreement about ending a war. 

 The Republicans are embracing chaos. The Democrats seem to have a complete lack of leadership. And, unfortunately, there is no third party or Independent coalition to incentivize the two sides to behave like adults. 

 We’re guessing that the majority of Americans would agree to end a war diplomatically and to eliminate waste, fraud and corruption from our government. We just need to start electing candidates who will listen to their constituents and work together to accomplish these goals. 

#DOGE #supremecourt #tariffs  #GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters #democrats #republicans #nolabels #forwardparty #commonsenseparty

It’s no surprise that this week’s main topic of conversationis the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. 

Although we think it’s a good idea to audit the nation’sfinances, we also think the process should be thoughtful and measured.

The reckless pace of the audits may result in a perceivedlack of transparency which is the opposite of what is intended.

Mass layoffs may result in high unemployment and all thenegative effects on the economy that go along with it.

Change on a scale this big has enormous effects. Slashinghuge government programs will cause immediate pain for many government employees and beneficiaries. Good leadership is crucial in order to mitigate the immediate pain and ensure that the end result is worthwhile.

Our elected leaders have become entrenched in the ideology of their chosen parties and they refuse to acknowledge both the good and bad aspects of these audits. 

Partisan politics has led to a lack of creativity and imagination in government. We believe that if more Independentand/or third party candidates were participating in this debate in Washington, D.C. we would have a more balanced and bipartisan approach to this very necessary task of cleaning up inefficiency in government.

We hope Episode 47 can be an antidote to the chaos that is currently happening in Washington, D.C. In this episode we discuss some of the pros and cons of our judicial system. We agree there are benefits to a system that is designed to be outside the political realm, but acknowledge the downside of having no internal mechanisms for reigning in incompetent or corrupt judges. No issue is too small. We discuss current events like the elimination of the penny and the return of the plastic straw. Although we are environmentally conscious citizens who want to see less plastic in our environment, we admit that we both hate paper straws and we think this may be the only issue most people can agree on these days!And that’s what we do at Coalition Purple. We find ways to bring people together so we can forge a new path towards better governance. Which is something we need now more than ever. #termlimits #straws #judicialreform #GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters #democrats #republicans #nolabels #forwardparty #commonsenseparty

What happens when you get a recovering Democrat, a TexasRepublican, and a Libertarian-leaning Independent together? 

An amazing episode of Coalition Purple.

This week we are joined by Ken Good, an appellate attorneyand bail reform advocate. He has years of experience in the area of bail reform, and he shares his ideas about why the current model in Texas has been successful.

Our conversation about California’s most recent criminaljustice reforms led us down so many interesting paths we needed to go into overtime. 

Few would argue that creating safe neighborhoods should be a top government priority.  But at what cost of potentially impacting civil liberties when it comes to who stays injail and who can afford to pay bail?

We want to thank Ken for taking the time to discuss somereally important issues with us. Although the three of us have different experiences and political views we still managed to have a good time discussing bail reform… and politics overall. 

#bailreform#GOP#RNC#DNC#independentvoters#democrats#republicans#nolabels#forwardparty#commonsenseparty

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as wedid. 

If you follow Coalition Purple you are probably exhaustedwith the unproductive conversations happening between two very divided camps.

In this episode we discuss some sensitive topics with the kind of nuance wethink the subject matter deserves.

We need to have a rational conversation about immigrationand the human beings who do the work that contributes to our economy and standard of living.

Rather than argue about identity politics we would rathersee our elected leaders acknowledge that if the only way our economy can function is with black market labor then we have a problem.

Wealth inequality and the rise of “oligarchs” is anothertopic that cannot be avoided. Call us crazy but we think this is a more nuanced conversation as well. 

Although we both agree we need to get corporate influenceout of government we have different ideas about how the one-percenters may contribute to society. 

The question of the week is: are billionaires always bad? Dowe all get poorer the day a tech bro becomes a billionaire or is it dependent on what else is happening in the economy? 

One thing we always agree on is that neither the Democratsnor the Republicans have an incentive to change. We hope you will join the Coalition and become part of the solution.

#GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters #democrats #republicans #nolabels #forwardparty commonsenseparty #draintheswamp

Coalition Purple went into overtime this week. There are so many important issues to discuss so we strayed from our focus on California politics.

The recent gambit of dueling Presidential pardons is a big problem. The point of pardons is to provide checks and balances to governmental or judicial overreach.

Unfortunately, they have turned into the conferring of immunity and we’re not sure that’s Constitutional.

Healthcare is an incredibly important issue in our country and our system needs serious reform. The current incentive is on obtaining insurance so you can get care - especially pharmaceuticals - when you fall apart.

We would like to see more focus on the health side of healthcare. There is a glimmer of hope if the Trump administration can focus on research regarding toxins in our food and in the environment.

Of course, they will need to get moneyed interests out of the way and those corporations will not go down without a fight. The other hope on the horizon might come from the private sector.

Mark Cuban’s healthcare model may not be perfect but we are intrigued with the idea of disrupting the current insurance model.

We discuss our ideas about non-profit health co-ops and their potential to decrease costs and improve healthcare. As always, we emphasize the need for politicians who are not beholden to moneyed interests.

At the local level we can help by supporting and voting for Independent candidates who can bring new vision and imagination to the stagnant world of politics. Changing the system at the national level is a lot trickier but we are hoping for a natural evolution within the two parties.

We think the Bush/Cheney faction has more in common with the Biden/Pelosi faction than with Trump or Bernie Sanders. Maybe they will be shunted off into an Institutional faction of one of the parties. And we will leave you with this radical idea… We think Trump and Sanders have more in common with each other than with the Institutionalists mentioned above. Trump and Sanders may not have the same ideas but they seem to be beholden to their constituents rather than to a Party.

It would be better to have collaboration between two coalitions who want to improve the lives of the American people even if they have wildly different ideas about how to get there.

#GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters #democrats #republicans #nolabels #forwardparty #commonsenseparty #healthcarereform

We need to build and maintain better water infrastructure.

And we need to get our electrical infrastructure safely underground.

Yes, this is simple stuff. It’s easy to say it hasn’t been done because it’s so expensive, but if you think about how much we pay in taxes and how much we will need to spend in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires it seems like a good investment to us.

That’s the problem with California politicians. They are reactive rather than proactive. Which is why we think a third party - or even better - multiple parties could be a game changer.

The current system rewards politicians who stick with a winning formula for reelection rather than politicians who are willing to explore new and innovative ideas and policies.

Step #1: De-register from the two major political parties! Step #2: register as an Independent/No Party Preference!

We think more parties means more ideas. Remember the Donald Rumsfeld matrix: you need to think about the known knowns, the unknown knowns, the unknown unknowns… you get the picture.

And if you don’t, not to worry! We will be here next week with more ideas about how to change things here in California.

LINKS TO STORIES WE MENTIONED:

Maine campaign finance law explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dERp5c6gN9c

Maine campaign finance law passed overwhelmingly: https://mainemorningstar.com/2024/11/06/mainers-vote-to-reform-campaign-finance-open-path-for-supreme-court-to-weigh-in/

Moment of Zen: Newt Gingrich thinks ‘goats prevent forest fires at Reagan Library’ are genius (you can fast forward to about 3:45): https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/fox-news-newt-gingrich-attacks-democrats-not-using-goats-prevent-california-wildfires

#GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters #democrats #republicans #nolabels #forwardparty #commonsenseparty

Well, most will probably agree that 2025 has gotten off to a

Wildfires are nothing new to us who’ve lived here for a while.  But this time things are different.  It’s been a sad lesson on how ill-prepared we are for major natural calamities… in terms of infrastructure.  Accepting the challenges of climate change. Our housing crisis.  Government spending priorities. And society which has often taken an apathetic attitude when non-sexy topics like water systems and fire stations are being considered.

So, in this episode, we talk a lot about the “would’ve”, “should’ve” and “could’ve” possibilities that were missed that may have lessened this disaster.  It’s easy to point the blame

#GOP #RNC #DNC #independentvoters

We recorded the weekend before Christmas to wrap up 2024 here at Coalition Purple!

And like our demands that politicians be more transparent... we're walking the talk in this episode! You get to experience our first major technical meltdown!

No editing or sugar-coating here. You see us in our raw form as always.

The end of the year is a good time to start embracing change so we discuss ways that our federal government can improve some of their big programs. They could start by transitioning out of unsustainable programs like Social Security. The Pentagon has failed its seventh audit in a row, so we’re pretty sure it’s time to reassess the budget for the military. As far as Medicare… well, that’s going to have to be another episode.

We don’t get too distracted with Washington D.C. though because our focus is on local politics. This may seem bold but we think people might be ready for a Coaltion Purple in every House District in California!

We know it can be scary to vote out the devil you know because their replacements might be worse. But calm those fears... Independent and third party candidates won’t be as powerful as the entrenched politicians so they won’t have the ability to wreak the same kind of havoc. We think that’s good news because change happens little by little.

Happy Holidays to all our Coalition Purple friends! We wish you peace, happiness and good health in the new year and we hope to see you here again in 2025.