It’s hard to understate the brutality of this election, and the uncertainty and fear about where we will go next. For many of us, our greatest hopes for peace, shared prosperity and economic security seem threatened at their core.

While the reasons for our national divisions are complex, I’m convinced that one key is in the failure of shared knowledge.

Throughout this election, we have seen the internet and social media proliferate with falsehoods like these (and these, and these). 

We have seen conspiracy reign over all, while policy issues were nearly absent from most media coverage. 

The election is over now, and we are back to needing a government that can sustain a country. We need to be vigilant, and we need to be informed.

It’s on us to make this better. We need to seek out correct information. We need to engage in real dialogue about real issues. If you can engage with your friends, family and neighbors to share substantive, accurate information that transcends partisan and ideological divides, so much the better.

At NPP, our work is as important as it’s ever been. We will aggressively seek new, more effective ways to depart information that spurs action, taking into account our changed political and media landscapes and our own complex human psychology, to help Americans understand the federal budget in their own lives.

We will be ready with the most cutting edge information to help you understand the priorities of our government and which campaign promises are being kept. 

Budgets are moral documents, and the new president’s budget will reveal so much. Will a Trump budget include money to build a wall and implement mass deportations? Will it substantially increase the military budget? Cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations? Eviscerate efforts to halt climate change? Repeal the Affordable Care Act and its health care subsidies? 

We have already begun huddling with our movement partners - think tanks like the Institute for Policy Studies, grassroots organizations like Peace Action, MomsRising, and the Center for Community Change, and others - to plot our way forward. This moment will give birth to new movements and new alliances. We will go forward, and we are excited to get there together.

Our staff is fired up and ready to go. Can you help us today with a donation of $5, $10, or $25?

In solidarity,

Lindsay Koshgarian, Research Director