No Labels Citizen Petition to Make Congress Work Rep.

_____________________ : As your constituent, and a citizen fed up with Congresss failure to make progress on any of Americas problems, I am calling on you to support full enactment of the No Labels Make Congress Work action plan. This 12-point plan, outlined below, provides a blueprint for fixing Congress by immediately reducing hyper-partisanship and gridlock. But it cant happen without your leadership and willingness to put political labels aside for the good of our country. Accordingly, I urge you to fix the broken Congress you are a part of by voting for all of No Labels common sense recommendations. First Name______________________ Last Name _____________________ Zip Code_______________

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No Labels Make Congress Work Action Plan 1. No Budget, No Pay If members of Congress cant make spending and budget decisions on time, they shouldnt get paid on time either. Americans dont get paid if they dont do their jobs. The same should apply to Congress. 2. Up or Down Vote on Presidential Appointments The Senates Advise and Consent role on presidential appointments is important. But it has become a partisan logjam that keeps crucial cabinet and judicial positions unfilled. A 90-day requirement for up or down votes will speed a process critical to a functioning government. 3. Filibuster Reform In the first 50 years of the filibuster, it was used only 35 times. In the last two years, it was used more than 100 times to block passage of popular legislation. No Labels solution is a simple rule change requiring senators who want to block a bill to explain why in public and conduct an actual on-the-floor filibuster. 4. Empower the Sensible Majority Party leaders may get political benefit from keeping Democrats and Republicans at each others throats, but it creates a poisonous climate that paralyzes Congress. Procedural reforms that fast-track legislation with majority support and protect members against partisan retribution will create room for bipartisan solutions. 5. Make Members Come to Work Everyone agrees Congress has a lot of work to do. It could actually get done if members put in a five-day workweek and spend three weeks of the month doing the peoples business. That will leave one week for constituent events in their home districts. 6. Question Time for the President No Labels proposes a regular question period that brings Congress and the president together and puts all ideas on the table for open debate. Each 90-minute session would be televised so the American people can decide if their elected officials are serious about solving problems. 7. Fiscal Report to Congress: Hear it. Read it. Sign it. Politicians are entitled to their opinions, but not their own facts about Americas fiscal condition. Getting the president, cabinet members, senators and members of Congress all working from the same set of numbers can be accomplished with an annual presentation to a joint session of Congress by a nonpartisan leader such as the comptroller general. 8. No Pledge but the Oath of Office With 80 percent of Congress having signed pledges to never raise taxes or never cut Social Security, there is no room for compromise on two of the biggest factors in Americas budget deficits. No Labels demands members of Congress make no pledges except the pledge of allegiance and their formal oath of office. 9. Monthly Bipartisan Gatherings Like any workplace, Congress needs good human relationships to function. But members are more likely to glare at each other from partisan bunkers than get to know each other. Monthly bipartisan gatherings in the

House and Senate will make it harder to demonize the other side and easier to forge solutions. 10. Bipartisan Seating At all joint meetings or sessions of Congress, such as the State of the Union address, each member should be seated next to at least one member of the other party. Mature, clique-curbing seating should also be used on committees and subcommittees to alleviate us against them partisan tensions. 11. Bipartisan Leadership Committee Republican and Democratic leaders turn virtually every meeting into a partisan pep rally. A bipartisan congressional leadership committee, including rotating positions for any member of the House or Senate, will provide a forum for discussing both legislative agendas and substantive solutions. 12. No Negative Campaigns Against Incumbents Informal customs that discouraged one member aggressively working to defeat another have been ignored over the last decade, setting off a cycle of mistrust and retribution that prevents problem solving. Under this change, members would be free to campaign for candidates of their own party, but not to engage in negative attacks on their colleagues across the aisle.