Congressmen Ami Bera, David Cicilline, Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger talk problem solving.
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It's not all about big money this election season. It's also about YOU. Social media tools put the power to be heard squarely in your hands. If you've thought about making a Facebook and Twitter account to spread the No Labels word, but haven't made the jump yet, check out this article by our own Mark McKinnon.
Looks like America will get a two-week break from gridlock. After a nearly botched transportation bill, budget intrigue and recess appointments on presidential nominees, Congress is taking a two-week recess. This is the first time in a year Congress is taking a break without holding largely ceremonial pro forma sessions.
"On Wednesday, in a move reflecting long-term disillusionment and in an effort to shake up the campaign, [San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan] Fletcher said he is leaving the Republican Party. He is becoming an independent. In his announcement video, he railed against the strategy he saw in both parties — the unwillingness to negotiate with the other side to keep it from being able to take credit for any accomplishment."
No Labels is high-fiving the 38 brave Republicans and Democrats in the House who broke ranks with party leadership and voted on a bipartisan budget alternative based off last year’s Simpson-Bowles plan. That plan called for a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.
"As a longtime Senate debt hawk, I believe our failure to pass a budget and appropriations bills has led to the fiscal crisis we are now experiencing. To change the outcomes, we need to change the incentives. That’s why I strongly support No Labels and the “no budget, no pay” proposal."
It’s Round Two for the No Budget, No Pay Act. Our Senate hearing on No Budget, No Pay struck a powerful blow against gridlock in Washington, but it was not a knockout punch.
Looking at America from here, makes me feel as though we have the worst of all worlds right now. The days when there were liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, who nudged the two parties together, appear over. We don’t have compulsory voting.
"Republican Sen. Dean Heller said Friday that he views himself as a “no labels” lawmaker and called for bipartisanship in Washington in the latest sign that he is trying to position himself as a moderate ahead of the November elections. Heller told a group of business leaders in Las Vegas that he is from Carson City, a “no labels city” where government officials work together. He also stressed that some members of his family are Democrats."
Once upon a time, moderation in all things was the maxim by which most people tried to live their lives. Today moderation is merely boring. Extreme is the virtue of the cool, as well as of a populace whose attention span compares favorably to a gnat’s.
We’re all born with labels. We get them at birth when we’re babies. What a cute Muslim, Christian, or Jew. An American, a European, an Arab, an Asian. A Democrat, a Republican, an Independent. We have labels before we know how to speak or walk.
If Congress can't pass a budget and all annual spending bills on time, members of Congress should not get paid.
All presidential nominations should be confirmed or rejected within 90 days of the nomination.
Require real (not virtual) filibusters and end filibusters on motions to proceed.
Allow a bipartisan majority of members to override a leader or committee chair’s refusal to bring a bill to the floor.
Make Congress work on coordinated schedules with three five-day work weeks a month in DC and one week in their home district.
Provide a monthly forum for members of Congress to ask the president questions to force leaders to debate one another and defend their ideas.
A nonpartisan leader should deliver an annual, televised fiscal update in-person to a joint session of Congress to ensure everyone is working off the same facts.
Members should make no pledge but the pledge of allegiance and their formal oath of office.
The House and Senate should institute monthly, off-the-record and bipartisan gatherings to get members talking across party lines.
At all joint meetings or sessions of Congress, each member should be seated next to at least one member of the other party.
Congressional party leaders should form a bipartisan congressional leadership committee to discuss legislative agendas and substantive solutions.
Incumbents from one party should not conduct negative campaigns against sitting members of the opposing party.
If Congress can't pass a budget and all annual spending bills on time, members of Congress should not get paid.
All presidential nominations should be confirmed or rejected within 90 days of the nomination.
Require real (not virtual) filibusters and end filibusters on motions to proceed.
Allow a bipartisan majority of members to override a leader or committee chair’s refusal to bring a bill to the floor.
Make Congress work on coordinated schedules with three five-day work weeks a month in DC and one week in their home district.
Provide a monthly forum for members of Congress to ask the president questions to force leaders to debate one another and defend their ideas.
A nonpartisan leader should deliver an annual, televised fiscal update in-person to a joint session of Congress to ensure everyone is working off the same facts.
Members should make no pledge but the pledge of allegiance and their formal oath of office.
The House and Senate should institute monthly, off-the-record and bipartisan gatherings to get members talking across party lines.
At all joint meetings or sessions of Congress, each member should be seated next to at least one member of the other party.
Congressional party leaders should form a bipartisan congressional leadership committee to discuss legislative agendas and substantive solutions.
Incumbents from one party should not conduct negative campaigns against sitting members of the opposing party.
If Congress can't pass a budget and all annual spending bills on time, members of Congress should not get paid.
All presidential nominations should be confirmed or rejected within 90 days of the nomination.
Require real (not virtual) filibusters and end filibusters on motions to proceed.
Allow a bipartisan majority of members to override a leader or committee chair’s refusal to bring a bill to the floor.
Make Congress work on coordinated schedules with three five-day work weeks a month in DC and one week in their home district.
Provide a monthly forum for members of Congress to ask the president questions to force leaders to debate one another and defend their ideas.
A nonpartisan leader should deliver an annual, televised fiscal update in-person to a joint session of Congress to ensure everyone is working off the same facts.
Members should make no pledge but the pledge of allegiance and their formal oath of office.
The House and Senate should institute monthly, off-the-record and bipartisan gatherings to get members talking across party lines.
At all joint meetings or sessions of Congress, each member should be seated next to at least one member of the other party.
Congressional party leaders should form a bipartisan congressional leadership committee to discuss legislative agendas and substantive solutions.
Incumbents from one party should not conduct negative campaigns against sitting members of the opposing party.
In today's Problem-Solver's Daily, what factors are contributing to a broken Congress, the gang of eight knows trust is important and trust in the locker room is similar to trust in public office.
Congressmen Ami Bera, David Cicilline, Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger talk problem solving.
"Like many people across our great country, I learned at a young age that balancing the family budget and living within our means is a question of values."
