bipartisanship: the good, the bad, and the ugly
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Hi Friend,
As summer continues its trend of unprecedented extreme weather this week
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, 150 million people from coast to coast are experiencing a heat wave. This all
followed closely on the heels of the Monday release of an updated report from
theInternational Panel on Climate Change
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with a dire warning for the international community on the status of the
rapidly warming planet. There’s still opportunity to stave off the worst of the
impacts — but only if significant and swift action is taken.
Unfortunately, significant and swift are not two words that can be used to
describe America’s struggling political process. Despite consensus from the
majority of citizens on both sides of the aisle —65% of Americans
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think the federal government should be doing more to reduce the effects of
climate change — our elected officials seem unlikely to craft the sort of
bipartisan legislation needed to create lasting change.
The pressing issues of the day that affect so many Americans lives in tangible
ways makes our work of political reform more urgent, and more needed. Americans
need real solutions, and fixing our political system is a first step in
ensuring our elected officials get to work.
Here are three things to think about this week:
One shining example of bipartisanship
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The US Senate has done the unthinkable: pass a significant piece of bipartisan
legislation. The much-needed infrastructure bill was crafted and driven by a
bipartisan group of Senators who put country over party to deliver solutions
for their constituents. Two of those senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rob
Portman of Ohio, help to demonstrate why this sort of bipartisan consensus is
hard to come by -— but also how we can help to encourage more of it.
In The Hill this week, Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano writes
about how systemic change is needed to our political system if bipartisanship
is to survive.Top-four nonpartisan primaries — like we see in Murkowski’s
Alaska — might just be the answer. Read the full piece here
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Redistricting: it’s now or never (...or in 10 years)
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Today, the Census Bureau released the final data from the 2020 Census, meaning
that across the country, the work of creating the actual maps that will
determine representation in state legislatures and in Congress can begin in
earnest. If you want to make sure that your community is represented fairly,now
is the time to act.
The Princeton Gerrymandering Project has a state by state breakdown of what
you need to know, how at risk of gerrymandering your state is, and most
importantly,how you can get involved <[link removed]>! This
only happens once every 10 years, and we need citizens like you making your
voice heard!
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Some bipartisanship on the House side
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We started with bipartisanship on the House side, let’s end with an example of
bipartisanship on the Senate side. In a new blog, resident policy expert Beth
Hladick explains what the House Committee on Modernization has been up to. It’s
not a flashy committee, but its work is vital — how can Congress make Congress
function better?
Recently, the Committee passed 20 new recommendations, including ones designed
to help congress members improve staff retention, diversity, and professional
development.We want smart, hard-working people working on behalf of the
American people— these bipartisan recommendations make it possible. Check out
the full blog here
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Brett
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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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