Fellow Americans:

I left Congress in 2008 after ten years representing the Sixth District of Colorado. That district is safe Republican territory. But I decided that ten years as a “backbencher” was enough. I was tired of being one “nay” vote against an avalanche of socialist legislation, irresponsible legislation that my own party supported too often.

I have taken time to reflect and to examine the root causes of our nation's current flirtation with socialist dogmas. While our disasters may indeed be escalating with the Obama presidency, we have been on the wrong path for many years. The fault lies not in any one leader or any one government program. The fault, as Shakespeare observed, lies not in our stars but in ourselves.

Politically we have become separated from our roots in the U.S. Constitution and the values that must underpin our constitutional liberties. We need to return to those roots and reaffirm a commitment to limited government. That sounds simple, but given the array of enemies committed to a socialist America, it is not a simple task. Obama and the American left do not believe in limitations on government, only unlimited ambitions for government. Our task is urgent, and it is formidable, but it is not hopeless.

I have founded the American Legacy Alliance to help provide insight and direction to the fight for our constitutional liberties. We intend to “stir the pot” and take on several vital issues affecting the nations' future -- in education, energy, immigration, taxation and fiscal affairs, 2nd Amendment freedoms, and others.

Our approach will be to combine the best of policy research and scholarship with an activist strategy. We will work with coalitions of active citizens to---

• sponsor and support ballot initiatives

• organize petitions

• alert the public about concrete dangers and threats

• promote positive reforms that can make a difference

My home state of Colorado was a pilot project for the American left from 2004 to 2008. With seed money from George Soros and other wealthy individuals, the left-wing “Colorado Democracy Alliance” founded a dozen advocacy groups and invested tens millions in them and their political projects. Their investments paid off and Colorado is now a “battleground state” instead of the reliable Republican fortress it once was.

If Colorado was a demonstration project for the left, it must now become a successful model for defeating the left and restoring the principles of limited government.

I ask you to join me. Join the American Legacy Alliance and help build a new movement dedicated not to electing some person to office but to reestablishing the framework for limited government. I have some ideas about how to do that, and I welcome your ideas, too.

• Please go to our Donate page and make a contribution.

• Go to our Coalitions page and join one or more allied efforts.

• Visit our Issues and Commentary pages to follow critical issues and learn how to be effective in your own community.

• Write to Tom and suggest new ways to educate and motivate citizens:

tom@americanlegacyalliance.org

• Ask your friends to join Tom at American Legacy Alliance

Send your donation to CITIZENS FOR INITIATIVE 42, P.O. Box 27712, Denver, CO 80227