'No Labels' Chapter Wants to Build Non-Political Movement

Members of a regional chapter for the group No Labels, which seeks to get people to put problem solving ahead of politics, had a meeting Thursday to discuss its objectives and goals.

The meeting, held at the Mount Kisco Public Library, featured David Walker, who was U.S. Comptroller General under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Walker has been a critic of federal spending and of the trajectory of the national debt, which he described to the audience with alarm and made a call to action to fix.

The gathering was the second of its kind of the Westchester chapter – the first held in April, also at the library. It was founded several months ago by Ron and Debbie Tobias of Armonk, Steven Levine of Chappaqua and New Castle resident Susan Barocas. Frustrated with the political climate, the group joined No Labels after looking for a likeminded organization. They attended the launch of the national group in December at Columbia University, which included notable guests such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, talk show host Joe Scarborough and commentator David Brooks. Their chapter now has more than 100 people.

They were, Debbie Tobias said, “frustrated with all the bickering and the partisanship and the gridlock.”

People of all political parties can join.

“We don’t even ask,” Debbie Tobias said.

Instead of supporting one side or the other, the group calls for problem solving and looking at solutions.

“Not just one party has the best ideas,” Ron Tobias said.

Walker, like many of the event’s attendees, feels that Washington is hurt by partisan gridlock between Republicans and Democrats, who focus on politics more than on solving the nation’s pressing issues, such as the ongoing negotiations between President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling, as well as balancing the budget.

“It has been taken over by the wingnuts, on the far left and the far right,” Walker said.

The debt issue has become such a problem that “it’s mindless” to merely focus just on areas such as changing spending or taxes, as dialogue at the federal level has included.

To tackle the issue, Walker called for the president to lead and for Congressional leadership in both parties to be available.

According to Walker, the mission of No Labels is not to suggest exactly what solutions to take, such as how to change taxes, Social Security or Medicare, but to call attention to the country’s problems and state that they need to be fixed.

In the short term, No Labels hopes to get members of Congress to “stay on the floor until they fix the ceiling,” Walker said. He argues that the ceiling has to be increased in order to deal with the debt, citing a daily gap in how much the government takes in versus its spending, but something also has to be done in order to “calm the markets,” and let them know that “tough choices” will be start to be made.

Ultimately, he is “cautiously optimistic” that both sides will raise the debt ceiling, which must be done, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, by August 2, or else the federal government will default. Already, Moody’s is warning that it could lower its U.S. debt outlook if progress on the ceiling talks is not made by mid July, Walker said.

When the opportunity came for audience members to engage with Walker, some expressed their frustrations with how the media covers issues, feeling that outlets casts matters as just being between the political left and right in terms of a narrative.

The media puts things “in a binary way,” said New Rochelle resident Stephen Mayo.

Others complained about people in politics not being transparent.

“Nobody is being honest,” explained one audience member, who said problems has gotten larger.

Group Has Big Plans for 2012

No Labels hopes to increase its operations in time for the 2012 election season.

Kevin Walling, the group’s national field director, spoke about the plans, which include supporting senators from both parties against partisan primary challenges – Olympia Snowe (R-ME) will get their support – increase membership and have their own convention next year in Philadelphia. There are also plans to organize in all 435 Congressional districts and to step up attracting college students to join.

Ted Buerger, Scarborough, talked about how to reach out to others, pointing to the use of Facebook.

In order for No Labels to become more relevant and influential, members explained that it has to get bigger and have more people.

“This is all about the numbers,” Ron Tobias. Walker also noted this sentiment in his talk.

Tobias is pleased with how the Westchester chapter is growing, noting how they have grown in the past few months.

More information about No Labels is on its website.