Collaborating on Conversations -- and How Congress is Failing Whistleblowers

Posted by on February 13, 2020 at 3:22 PM

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A large part of the Bridge Alliance’s work revolves around conversations. “Bridging Ideological Divides” is the biggest category of membership (31 organizations), and “Facilitating Citizen / Government Interaction” isn’t too far behind (19 organizations). With so many member organizations interested in encouraging dialogue to bridge the divide and find common ground, there are numerous opportunities for collaboration.

The Center for the Study of Liberty (CSL) is taking full advantage by partnering with two of the biggest names in citizen discussions -- Better Angels and Living Room Conversations (LRC). On February 19th, CSL will host John Wood, Jr. of Better Angels for a conversation about “the ‘unmooring’ that took place in 2016, the influence of college campuses on our national dialogue, the importance of rebuilding our ‘emotional economy,’ and much more.”

Two weeks later, on March 4th, CSL will join with LRC to co-host two living room conversations. The first will take place at noon ET with the topic “Weave the Social Fabric” and the second at 7:30 PM ET with the topic “The America We Want To Be: Founding Aspirations.”

Meanwhile, Ballotpedia is looking to help voters become familiar with local candidates for office with “Candidate Conversations.” During these digital conversations, candidates are asked a series of questions so that voters can become familiar with them as people. You can view the first conversation -- with candidates for San Francisco’s District Attorney -- by clicking here.

Finally, Liz Hempowicz of the Project On Government Oversight testified before Congress late last month on the importance of federal whistleblowers and Congress’ failure to protect them. In her testimony, Liz emphasized the importance of whistleblowers to our nation and explained how “[w]hile Congress has codified protections for whistleblowers...systemic failures often render those protections meaningless.” She also proposed several reforms to the system, including “interim relief while they seek to enforce their legal protections.”

Whistleblowers are absolutely essential for government accountability, and we applaud POGO’s advocacy on their behalf. Shining a light on government malfeasance should not be a surefire way to destroy one’s career.

As always, thank you for your support.

Bridge Alliance Education Fund

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Bridge Alliance Members in the News:

Center for Civic Design - FiveThirtyEight.com - Iowa Democrats Should Have Known Better Than To Use An App

Interactivity Foundation - LaSalle News Tribune - Grassroots group will co-host programs on the U.S. Constitution

National Institute on Money in State Politics - The Stranger - Proposed Settlement Between Facebook and Washington State Is "Dangerous" and "Troubling," Experts Say