No Virtual Filibustering, No Pledging to outside groups and most importantly, No Budget No Pay are just some of the catchcries of No Labels, a new grass-roots movement aiming to make Congress work.
There are no park camping or banner holding operatives like Occupy Wall Street here. The coalition of 180,000 members including a bipartisan selection of lawmakers, former political staff, independent citizens, and community leaders, has gone straight to the heart of the matter—Capitol Hill.
At a forum on Dec. 13 in the Caucus Room of Cannon House, the oldest congressional office building in Washington, the group laid out their goal, “We want our government to work again.”
William Galston, No Labels spokesperson and senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank, the Brookings Institution, outlined a 12-point action plan the group hopes will achieve three primary objectives. They intend to break the gridlock in Congress, promote constructive debate, and reduce polarization in Congress.
“Nine out of 10 citizens blame Congress for the most pressing problems Americans are facing,” Galston said in a statement.
“We saw from the failure of the supercommittee that gridlock and hyperpartisanship have utterly impeded Congress’s ability to carry out its responsibilities to the American people. We see good people stuck in a rotten system, and we have to change the rules to fix what’s broken,” Galston stated.
A selection of present and former senators and congressman attended the No Labels forum in support.
One of the most notable actions, and one that elicited the most response, was No Budget No Pay, a recommendation that would see members of Congress docked pay for each day they fail to pass the budget.
Congressman Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said it was “a tough measure” but America could not afford to pass its budget, noting Congress must be forced into it, otherwise it risks becoming a “headless monster.”
“Do your work or you don’t get paid,” he told the audience to resounding applause.
“Even if it takes six months,” enjoined Sen Dean Heller (R-Nev.), adding there would be no retroactive pay either. More applause.
David Walker, No Labels co-founder and a former U.S. comptroller general, said No Labels polling indicated that 86 percent of people supported the call for No Budget No Pay.
He told the audience that if members of the supercommittee had been forced to relinquish their pay “they would now owe the government.”
On a more somber note, Walker said the extent of America’s financial situation was complex and too little understood. No Labels is recommending that an annual congressional report on America’s fiscal condition from a respected nonpartisan official like the comptroller general be established.
Rejecting presidential nominations purely to be obstructive and blocking votes in the Senate by filibustering also added to the gridlock, the lawmakers said.
In the past there may have been two filibusters a year, former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) told the audience. Over the last two years there have been 100.
“Everything gets filibustered,” he said. “The Senate is all tied up in knots.”
Bayh believes the increase in filibustering is due to the ease with which it can be done. He is supporting a No Labels recommendation to make it harder by requiring a senator that wants to halt a bill, to take the floor and give valid reasons for it rather than sending in a virtual note. No Labels is also recommending an end to filibustering before a motion is debated.
Lack of communication on the Hill
Senior among the lawmakers was independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). He believes that lack of communication on the Hill has become a problem, not only between lawmakers but also between Congress and the president.
“People don’t realize how little we get to talk with the president,” he told the audience.
Lieberman would like to see a question time introduced, similar to the British parliamentary system where public business could be openly discussed between Congress and the president.
A lack of engagement among congressional members had also contributed to the highly polarized environment on the Hill, lawmakers said.
Recalling days when there were regular bipartisan congressional retreats, Tom Davis (R-Va.) said now “People don’t know each other.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) blamed the little time senators and representatives spend in the capital. He suggested members spend only one weekend at home when sitting, and stay the rest of the time in Washington.
The influence of interest groups was also raised. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said when members are elected to serve in the Senate or Congress they make a pledge to serve the U.S. Constitution.
A problem arises when they pledge allegiance to another “interest group” he said, crediting the no new taxes pledge that the majority of Republicans have signed, as a contributor to the failure of the supercommittee.
“We need some walking around common sense in our American political system,” he said.
No Labels is recommending that members of Congress “be bound by no pledges except the oath of office.”
Political scientist, Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, says many of the concerns raised by No Labels are legitimate. The problem, however, is also “cultural.”
“The filibuster rule is unchanged since 1975,” he said by way of example, “but the use of it as a political weapon is radically different than it was then.”
Ornstein believes some of the reforms suggested by No Labels, “can help” but others, “like docking congressional pay, are not good at all.”
Vic Newinski, a retiree who had come in from Maryland to attend the No Labels forum was cautious in his response, noting the speakers had said “all the right things.”
“We need to see where the rubber meets the road now,” Newinski said sagely, noting that change was “not a sprint but a marathon.”
