New House of Representative Caucus

Finally there seems to be a reasonable movement in the House of Representatives. The movement has established itself as a caucus within the House focused on actually solving problems in a bipartisan manner. I first found this movement or caucus in a video interview with former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman on Fox news.

In the video former Senator Lieberman talked about the movement No Labels which had supported 28 candidates (14 Democrats and 14 Republicans) for the House of Representatives of which 23 of the candidates won their elections. Pretty good batting average if you ask me. These candidates have taken a pledge to work to eliminate gridlock in the House and not support anyone for Speaker of the House that has not taken a similar pledge. The Problem Solvers Caucus is now comprised of 48 members of the House and is growing. It's not large enough to thrust it's will on the rest of the House but that is enough members to have a sizable voice given the balance of power in the House.

I'm torn over how much impact the No Labels organization actually had on 23 of their 28 supported candidates winning. Maybe they did have a sizeable impact but possibly not. It is just as probable the citizens voting have gotten fed up with the gridlock in Washington and are looking for something different from what they had. I think I would fit into that category myself.

The No Labels website talks about many of the problems in the House are tied to rules that need to be changed, some official and some not. One of the unofficial rules is called the Hastert Rule. Under this unofficial rule the Speaker of the House will not allow legislation to be voted for unless it is supported by a majority of their party. Under this rule, bipartisan bills that have well over a majority support in the House might never see a vote simply because it has less than half of the majority party supporting. It's a ridiculous rule.

Another rule that needs to be eliminated is the ability of a single member of the House to make a "motion to vacate" against the Speaker. This "motion to vacate" is a call for a no confidence vote on the Speaker. The result of this, regardless of the result of the vote, could be career ending for the Speaker. Since any one member of the House can make this motion, it allows fringe groups on either side to have more influence than normal on the actions of the Speaker. These fringe politicians may have views opposed to by the vast majority of American voters but can use this technique to force the direction of politics. Another ridiculous rule! This rule only encourages the Speaker of the House not to take any action without knowing it will be fully supported by their party, stifling creativity in solving the problems we face in America. Imagine being employed at a job where any other person working with you could effectively have you fired from the position, that's a job I would have only long enough to find a new one.

My suggestion, and plan of action, is to do some research on this caucus. If it seems like something that makes sense to you, check to see if your representative is taking part. If not, drop them an email or give them a call and suggest they consider it. If they don't, they are up for reelection in two years with the primaries being even sooner, you can reevaluate your support for them.