Centrists.Org - The Policy Think Tank for Centrists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Kelly Buck

Centrists.Org

236 Massachusetts Ave, NE, Suite 205
Washington DC, 20002
Phone: 202-546-4090
Fax: 202-546-4091

http://www.centrists.org

Innovative Think Tank Centrists.Org Celebrates Its First Anniversary

Washington, DC – July 1, 2004 – Political bitterness, partisanship, and legislative gridlock remain the rule in Washington, but Centrists.Org, an organization devoted to bridging the partisan policy divide, celebrates its first birthday today.

“The good news is: We’re off to a great start,” said Centrists.Org Executive Director Jeff Lemieux. “The bad news is: It looks like we’re going to have a long life ahead of us. Legislators do not have enough practical centrist proposals to rally around.”

Centrists.Org began operations July 1, 2003 under the leadership of Lemieux, formerly Chief Economist of the Progressive Policy Institute, the think tank of the Democratic Leadership Council, and Maya MacGuineas of the New America Foundation. Rather than a “mushy middle,” Centrists.Org offers aggressive, credible and pragmatic solutions to the nation’s most pressing policy problems. In its first year, it has collaborated with Congressional leaders in both parties and think tanks on both the left and the right, like the Progressive Policy Institute and The Heritage Foundation.

Centrists.Org has gained attention on Capitol Hill through its weekly newsletter and extensive website, which receives 90,000 hits a month. The website features Issue Summaries that give readers a quick overview of different policy areas and are linked to more in-depth explorations of policy topics. To date, healthcare and budget policy are the best developed issue areas. Plans for Centrists.Org’s sophomore year include expansion into energy and environmental policy as well as employment and pension policy.

“Centrists.Org started with the goal of building policy for the people, not just for the outer wings of either political party. We have been really gratified by the response of Congressional staff. They seem to appreciate finally having an unbiased resource to call upon for formulating sound policy,” says Lemieux.