Courtesy of No Labels Duh! Make Congress sit together. Not on opposite sides of the aisle, but actually together. Then they might work, together. And here’s another no-brainer… do it for the State of the Union. That’s what it says in our full-page ad running in last Friday’s issue of The New York Times (pictured). This year, No Labels is encouraging every member of Congress to sit with a colleague from the other party. And they will listen when you call on your senators and representative to join the elected leaders who have already volunteered to do so. On Thursday, January 12, 2012, we put the call out for Congress to sit together. Less than 24 hours later, more than 30 lawmakers have agreed to sit with a member of Congress from the opposite party. Bipartisan seating is reform #10 of our Make Congress Work! action plan. It’s one of our most obvious reforms. As in, “Of course, they should sit together. It makes perfect sense.”
Unfortunately, the fact that an idea makes sense doesn’t make it any more likely for Congress to act on it. That’s why it’s so important for you to take action today. Please take a minute, right now, to email your lawmaker and urge them to sit together on Jan. 24. You can sign the petition at http://action.nolabels.org/5843/bipartisan-seating/ Visit the site to find out where your members of Congress stand on bipartisan seating and tell them you expect them to be an example to the rest of the country of leadership over partisanship by sitting with their colleagues from the other party. Find out which senators, Republican congressmen and Democratic congressmen have said they will be sitting with members of the opposite party at this year’s State of the Union. You might not think your one voice can make a difference … but it can. And it will. Especially when your voice is joined with over 360,000 other No Labels supporters across our great country — all pulling together for the same goal: to make Congress work again. No Labels is a group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents who want our government to work again. Our dozen proposals to make Congress work mostly don’t require new laws or new spending, and don’t favor any party or particular cause. These are simple, straightforward proposals to break gridlock, promote constructive discussion and reduce polarization in Congress. They can mostly be adopted all at once when the next Congress convenes in January 2013. To learn more about No Labels, please visit www.NoLabels.org.