You Can Fix Our Government

Bill Pardi
Nov 3 · 7 min read

Part II: What We Expect

Our representatives must be accountable for dealing with the most critical issues facing the country

In Part I: Fire Them All I outlined a way to demand more from our representatives, but how will we know it’s working? Well, each election cycle IncumbentXChange will define what a “working” government means by proposing a platform for that cycle, with clear, measurable results. The platform does not propose policy. Rather, it outlines broad areas of critical importance for the country, and simply states that our representatives must do their job and pass bi-partisan legislation with supermajority votes that are in the best interest of the whole of the United States.

IncumbentXChange defines a supermajority as a 3/5 vote, or 60% of the total members of congress, plus the President and Vice President voting on a bill. Abstentions count as a “no” vote.

For the 2020 election IncumbentXChange will propose the platform, but beyond 2020 it is our intent to provide a decentralized election process where all IncumbentXChange members can vote on a platform.

Our proposal for 2020 is the following:

Federal spending is out of control, and the national debt (as a % of GDP), while not the highest in U.S. history, is trending to break that record in the next decade. It’s time to put the breaks on and show some fiscal control. IncumbentXChange does not take a position on where the budget should be spent, only that budgets must be passed by supermajority that reduces the national debt by 10% by 2024.

U.S. healthcare costs are among the highest in the world but for many, outcomes are far below those of other developed countries. Many millions of Americans are uninsured and many more are squeezed by healthcare costs. There are many ways to fix this problem, from allowing increased competition in the private markets, to offering an affordable public option, to full-fledged government funded universal healthcare. IncumbentXChange doesn’t take a position on which solution is the right one, but our representatives must do the hard work of passing a bipartisan bill with a supermajority by 2024.

Immigrants make America what it is. Our diversity is our strength, and most Americans are in favor of reasonable immigration policy that outlines a path to legal citizenship while maintaining strong borders and enforcing current immigration law. By 2022 our representatives must pass, with a supermajority, an immigration bill that supports our long history of welcoming immigrants in a way that also promotes fairness and enforces the law.

Education, especially for the poor and under-represented, is key to an improved life and a chance at the American dream. Despite the billions spent on public education, our students are behind much of the developed world in achievement scores, and many do not have access to the education they need. The connected world is changing the face of education, but we’re not keeping up. By 2022, our representatives must pass comprehensive education reform with a supermajority vote.

The U.S. tax system is a mess. The income tax impacts working people the most, but the tax code is full of loopholes, exemptions, and tax-breaks, many of which benefit only the wealthy. This makes for a complex, intrusive, and opaque system that is perceived to be unfair by roughly half the country often along partisan lines. IncumbentXChange does not take a position on fair tax policy, but we expect that by 2024 our representatives must pass by supermajority a comprehensive tax reform bill that addresses the biggest inequities in the current tax code.

Climate is one of the most controversial topics in politics. While few can agree on the causes or severity of the problem, one thing most Americans can agree on is that we’re good at solving big problems. When it comes to sustainable energy, conservation, and preserving our planet, the U.S. should not be afraid to lead the future. By 2024 we look to our representatives to pass, by supermajority, a climate bill that challenges our spirit of innovation and leads the world in solving the problems of sustainable energy and a clean environment.

We will start this process by voting out every incumbent in the 2020 election. If our representatives cannot be accountable for dealing with some of these critical issues as defined in our 2020 platform, incumbents will again be voted out in the 2022 mid-terms and the 2024 Presidential elections.

If this sounds radical, it is. IncumbentXChange is for people who are fed up with the status quo of ideological infighting and party hard-liners and are looking for serious positive change. “But,” you may be thinking, “couldn’t something this dramatic have some downsides?”

I have concerns

So you’re considering becoming an XChanger, but you’re not convinced it will all work out. Let’s examine some common questions.


If you vote in the “standard” way, meaning you vote for politicians that have convinced you they are going to change things but never really do, then you’re right, your vote doesn’t count for much. That’s precisely what makes IncumbentXChange different. We’re a group of citizens not voting for any particular political party, but voting for the singular purpose of demanding change from every politician. Adding your vote to IncumbentXChange makes it extremely powerful.

The good news is that it won’t take everyone, just a core group of dedicated citizens with a passion for change. Look at the facts:

  • In 2016, just around 58 percent of eligible voters voted in the presidential election. The average over the past is even lower than that.
  • We know that far fewer eligible voters vote in local and primary elections.
  • Most candidates that make to the big national elections must go through the primary system first.

So that means that as long as XChangers are diligent about voting in every federal election, we have multiple chances to vote out incumbents, and we need a small percentage of eligible voters to do it! If we replace an incumbent in the primaries, for example, they will never be in the national election and we have the rest of the voters helping us find new representatives!

Yes and no. Representative republics are supposed to be messy and slow — that’s a feature, not a bug. It’s supposed to work by collaboration, consensus, and compromise. It’s supposed to focus on governance for everyone, not for any one particular group. The system of checks and balances mean some things will go more slowly than many would like. That’s also why Federalism is important, allowing state governments to be more aggressive and innovative than the federal government. All that said, the things that are important to the country and have bipartisan support could actually move even more quickly due to increased collaboration and a reduction in partisan politics.

No, it won’t. Here’s why:

  • Just look at how “effective” government is now. We’re starting from a very low point in federal governance.
  • We’re voting out incumbents, not everyone. Politicians are voted in for a set term and the number of incumbent representatives each cycle is just a percentage of the whole. The exception is the U.S. House of Representatives, who are voted on a two-year term, making every representative an incumbent each election cycle. Remember, the intent is to send a message that our politicians need to work for the people, not for themselves.
  • Most of the administrative work happens by unelected staff, not by the politicians. We successfully transfer power at the highest level of government (the Presidency) every 4–8 years and things keep operating, such as they are, just fine.
  • If IncumbentXChange works government will function much better and incumbents won’t need to be in every election over time, reducing or eliminating any replacement costs.

The beauty of IncumbentXChange is that it makes a situation like that all but impossible. First, if a partisan really follows IncumbentXChange principles, then they are voting out members of their own party in addition to members of the other party, so we still end up sending the right message. Second, if they are voting strictly along party lines only to remove people they don’t like, well, they were going to do that anyway, so worse case is that we end up with the status quo. There’s extremely little downside risk, but plenty of upside!

The fact that we expect our politicians to behave in a short-term, self-interested manner exemplifies the problem we have. Some may do this initially, but this is exactly why we need systemic change, and a movement to dramatically change the approach of our politicians, and force them to represent us and not their own interests. Over time as IncumbentXChange does its job, this problem is eliminated.

Do Simple

Ways to declutter our thinking so we can reduce those areas of our life that aren’t working and focus on the things that are.

Bill Pardi

Written by

I do software | strategy | writing | coaching | speaking. Views are my own.

Do Simple

Do Simple

Ways to declutter our thinking so we can reduce those areas of our life that aren’t working and focus on the things that are.

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