Imagine...Though It Might Not Be Easy If You Try (h/t John Lennon)
Posted by on June 12, 2019 at 4:38 PM
Featured Blog Post: Geo-Locating Protests And Tech's Role In Advancing Movements, Part II
Imagine a functional Congress that passes legislation on issues where there’s broad agreement and exercises oversight of the executive branch regardless of the President’s party. Not easy, right? (If it was easy, you have a much more flexible imagination than me).
As I type this, the latest poll found that just 14% of Americans approved of the way Congress is handling its job (Source: Economist/YouGov). And there’s good reason for that -- the budget is out of control; fundraising prowess (rather than legislative competence) is the key to gaining power; and most legislation is drafted by a small group of legislative leaders, White House officials, and lobbyists.
This isn’t sustainable. Congress needs to fulfill its responsibilities as a co-equal branch of government for our government to function. That’s why Issue One Board Member JB Lyon crafted the Rebuild Congress Initiative (RCI) -- to help Congress rediscover its Constitutional authority. RCI’s doing that by empowering legislators to develop consensus solutions using approaches developed by the Harvard Negotiation Project.
The RCI is already paying dividends in the form of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (RCI’s most significant proposal). Additionally, a number of Bridge Alliance members are playing an active role in supporting RCI, including CMF, Issue One, R Street Institute, OpenGov Foundation, and TechCongress, as well as non-member ally The Democracy Fund. Congressional reform is a bipartisan problem that requires bipartisan answers, and we are proud to support RCI as a bold and pragmatic approach to developing consensus solutions.
In other news…
- The Congressional Management Foundation announced this year’s winners of the Democracy Awards and...let’s just say we now know how the West was won (Hint: it was with awesome congressional staffs).
- Cities of Service launched its new Experience Matters program, which will empower 50+ year old Americans in 6 cities to tackle local poverty.
Finally, Living Room Conversations needs a referral. Do you love your Client Relational Management (CRM) system? If so, please email [email protected] with a referral, since Living Room Conversations needs the best one!
As always, thank you for your support,
Sincerely,
Bridge Alliance Education Fund
Think we missed a big news story involving a Bridge Alliance member? Email us at [email protected] and we'll make sure to get the story out on social media.
Bridge Alliance Members in the News:
RepresentUs - The Fulcrum - American democracy movement on the rise
Debilyn Molineaux (Bridge Alliance) - The Fulcrum - Technicians of democracy: Let's get to work.
Nonprofit Vote - Chronicle of Philanthropy - Nonprofits Have the Power to Produce Big Gains in Voter Turnout, Study Says