Retirements due to gridlock

Submitted by Kelsey McLaughlin on October 25, 2012
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Problem-Solver's Daily
Dan Schnur
Gridlock
jay smith
Mark McKinnon
CASUALTIES OF GRIDLOCK: "Members of Congress are so fed up with gridlock, they are leaving the body in droves. In the past four years alone, almost two dozen incumbents have thrown up their hands and decided not to seek re-election, a number that is unprecedented in modern political history. Over the past three decades, this rate of departure is almost double that which we have seen over any other four-year period," writes No Labels Co-Founder Dan Schnur. But No Labels offers a plan to fix the gridlock: Dan Schnur for POLITICO: The casualties of political gridlock
 
DIVIDED DOWN PARTY LINE: "For the first time in more than five years, more Americans say that they’re better off financially than worse off, compared with a year ago," writes Ezra Klein for The Washington Post. What's interesting about this, though, is that the poll shows a "huge partisan split" -- while Democrats think they're better off, Republicans say they're worse off. The presidential election and the political implications of polls like these could be skewing the results: Ezra Klein for The Washington Post: The partisan split in how Americans view the economy
 
LISTEN: Click to listen to No Labels Co-Founder Jay Smith on America's Radio News Network talking about the Problem-Solvers Bloc and the No Budget, No Pay Act, and Mark McKinnon talking about No Labels on Wall Street Journal Radio.
 
NO BUDGET, NO PAY ENDORSEMENT: Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin has endorsed the No Budget, No Pay Act. “To make sure that this budget sticks, a greater incentive is needed: money. Specifically, it should not be legal to pay congressional or White House salaries unless a budget is in place for that fiscal year. Period. As the Oct. 1 deadline approaches, members of Congress, the president and their respective staffs would face a cutoff in pay unless the budget is passed,” he says: Kellie Lunney for Government Executive: Former CBO head: No budget, no payday
 
MOST DIVIDED EVER: This year America may have the most divided electorate we have ever seen, Harry Enten writes for The Guardian. He highlights reasons such as the age gap, the ideology gap, the union gap, the race gap and the gender gap as the driving forces behind the divide. Regardless of who is elected this November, we need our elected officials to put aside their differences and start solving problems: Harry Enten for The Guardian: Will 2012 see the most divided American electorate ever?
 
WARNINGS OF MORE GRIDLOCK: A panel of editors and journalists told Princeton University students that more gridlock is ahead. “The division in Congress is a reflection of the fact that we have a persistently divided electorate, that only shifts in one direction or other when remarkable things happen, like a financial crisis. And then it shifts back," Vanity Fair national editor Todd Purdum said: Lauren Wyman for The Times of Trenton: Princeton University panelists warn voters of congressional gridlock
 
FROM THE FIELD: Former No Labels intern Raleigh Dierlam used what she learned at No Labels to write a 10 page paper about the politics of problem solving in the 2012 senate races. She's glad her summer internship gave her a new perspective on Washington gridlock.
 
THE DAILY BREAK: Check out this infographic about the presidential campaigns fighting for space in voters' inboxes: Richard Fahey forPublic+i:  US Election: Race for the Inbox – [INFOGRAPHIC]
 
ACTION OF THE DAY: Follow us on Google+, and keep learning how to make Washington stop fighting and start fixing. If you don't have an account, you can create one here.
 
STAT OF THE DAY: A total of 41 percent of likely Ohio voters and people who have taken advantage of early voting in Ohio consider things in the U.S. to be going in the right direction, while 54 percent consider things to be on the wrong track: Alex Altman for TIME: TIME Poll: Obama Leads by 5 in Ohio