Every topic here presents five arguments from the left and five from the right, in equal length and equal detail. Each argument expands into the reasoning behind it. Every topic carries four sources. Nothing on this site tells you which side is correct.
It is easy to find out what your own side believes. It is much harder to find the other side's position stated at full strength, by someone who is not trying to make it look foolish.
Most attempts at balance fail in one of two ways. Either both sides get flattened into something so vague that neither is really represented, or one side is presented in a weakened form so the other appears to win. Both are easy to do without meaning to.
The test applied to every topic on this site is simple. Would a person who holds this view read our version of it and recognise their own argument? If not, it has not been written well enough yet.
The site is built and maintained independently by one person. It is not funded by a party, a campaign, a foundation, or an advocacy group. There is no editorial board and no institutional backer.
That independence is the reason for the format rather than a caveat to it. With no organisation to answer to, there is nothing to be gained by tilting a topic, and the only thing worth protecting is whether readers can trust that both sides were given a fair hearing.
Topics are chosen because they are actively contested in American politics and because there is a genuine argument on both sides. Questions with a settled factual answer do not belong here.
Each topic carries four sources, chosen to be readable rather than partisan. These are typically reference works, non-partisan research organisations, government data, and a link to how the story is being covered across the political spectrum. Where a number appears on the site, the source for it is on the same page.
Nothing. There is no paywall, no account, no newsletter wall, and currently no advertising. Every topic and every source is open to read.
If a statistic is out of date, a source has moved, or an argument has been stated unfairly, that is worth knowing and worth fixing. Corrections are genuinely welcome.
Every argument, both sides, with sources.
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