Nonpartisan Facts

Submitted by Kelsey McLaughlin on October 18, 2012
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Problem-Solver's Daily
No Budget No Pay
Make Congress Work
Make the Presidency Work
fiscal facts
ron shaich
Meeting to Make America Work
Olympia Snowe
harry reid
Mitt Romney
Jonathan Miller

NONPARTISAN FACTS: On Tuesday, each presidential candidate accused the other of making up facts. There is a simple solution to this: Proposal 10 in our Make the Presidency Work! action plan. "Every year, a nonpartisan leader, such as the comptroller general, would deliver a televised fiscal update in person to a joint session of Congress. The president, vice president, all Cabinet members, and members of Congress would attend … These facts would not be Democratic, Republican, or independent. Just correct," write Mark McKinnon and Bill Galston: Mark McKinnon and Bill Galston for Real Clear Politics: The American People Deserve the Facts

SHAICH ON NO LABELS: No Labels Co-Founder Ron Shaich was in Oregon recently talking about the ideas behind No Labels’ plans to Make Congress Work! and Make the Presidency Work! “It provides the only realistic way out of this mess. So many people understand the depth of our problems and what is going on in our politics today. They know what is going on in our politics today does not work. They just do not see a path to make it better. I guarantee you that if people see such a path, they would respond — and we have such a path," he said: Peter Wong for Statesman Journal: A no-nonsense talk about what to do about political gridlock

NOT TALKING ABOUT GRIDLOCK: Although massive spending cuts, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and hitting the debt ceiling all are scheduled to occur at the end of this year, President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner have not spoken about it in the last four months. How can we break through the gridlock in Washington if our elected officials won't talk to each other to address our most crucial issues? Jake Sherman for POLITICO: Boehner and Obama haven’t talked fiscal cliff

CEOS ARE TAKING THE CLIFF SERIOUSLY: While both sides of the aisle aren't working on solutions to the fiscal cliff, top financial CEOs are blasting Washington's inaction. In a letter sent to Congress and the White House, 16 CEOs wrote, “At a time when economic growth is less than 2 percent, and with nearly 25 million Americans either out of work or underemployed, the still-fragile U.S. economy cannot sustain—and the American people do not deserve—the impact of more gridlock in Washington. We urge you to negotiate a bipartisan agreement as quickly as possible to prevent us from going over the fiscal cliff so that we can avoid the damage to the economy and the markets that inaction will cause.” Zachary A. Goldfarb for The Washington Post: CEOs warn Obama, Congress to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

SNOWE SAYS NOT ENOUGH SOLUTIONS: When Senator Olympia Snowe announced her retirement, she cited political gridlock as part of the decision. “Every day in the United States Senate, we address each other as ‘my good friend’ or ‘my esteemed colleague’ — and that’s a worthy practice. And yet, for all of these apparent niceties, we have still proceeded to become the least productive Congress since 1947. Clearly, then, we are missing what is the second key component to civility in politics — and that is a willingness to listen to and work with those with whom we disagree, and to respect differing views," Snowe said: Niels Lesniewski for Roll Call: Olympia Snowe Continues Taking Jabs at Colleagues for Not Compromising Enough

COULD THEY WORK TOGETHER: Given the gridlock between this current Congress and the president, Karoun Demirjian wonders what gridlock would look like between Mitt Romney and Harry Reid, if Romney wins the presidency and Democrats control the Senate. While some think that their political views are too different, other believe the two still could work together to solve problems: Karoun Demirjian for the Las Vegas Sun: After campaign acrimony, could Reid and Romney forge working relationship in DC?

FROM THE FIELD: Two veterans -- who just got engaged -- are taking their first vacation in two years with No Labels at the Meeting to Make America Work! -- and there’s no place they’d rather be!

THE DAILY BREAK: Click here to check out every presidential campaign ad on TV since 1952!

ACTION OF THE DAY: Tune in to MSNBC’s The Cycle today at 3:20 p.m., eastern time, to watch No Labels Co-Founder Jonathan Miller talk about the movement.

STAT OF THE DAY: About 52 percent of the company job losses from falling off the fiscal cliff would come from small businesses: Joyce Rosenberg for The Associated Press: Looming federal cuts big risk to small companies

 

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