Newsletter - May 2024

My fourth good government principle is Respect for Opposing Views. Not only is this principle relevant to discourse with our friends, family, and acquaintances, but it's absolutely critical to governing. Regardless of which party is in charge, good and representative government requires incorporating feedback from across the aisle.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Opinion polls show that broad bipartisan majorities want Congress to work collaboratively to achieve solutions and pass legislation. And I don't expect that sentiment will change any time soon.

I firmly believe that regardless of who's in charge, our legislators should incorporate feedback from the other party. Even in landslide elections, two out of every five voters support the losing candidate. Incorporating feedback and ideas from the "other side of the aisle" fosters greater acceptance of resulting legislation and is a proven tactic of successful managers.

This article by Robert Half points out that incorporating differing opinions in the workplace can reduce risks by 30% while improving innovation by 20%. Although the article speaks to diversity in the workplace, a key takeaway that's relevant to Congress and to an effective government, is that incorporating a broad range of viewpoints and perspectives in legislation will promote new ideas and increase the productivity of Congress.

That conclusion was supported in a study published last year by the Center for Effective Lawmaking that found that effective lawmakers are willing to support well-thought-out proposals across the aisle, and in turn receive bipartisan support for their best policy solutions.

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This month I had the pleasure of attending the American Society's (ASQ) World Conference on Quality and Improvement, and was able to reconnect with some great people I have been working with in the Government Division. I came away from the conference reinvigorated by the great work that Quality professionals are doing to improve our government and to improve the countless other sectors represented by Quality professionals.

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This month's social media posts:

• Joint call by President Biden and Utah Governor Spencer Cox for less bitterness and more bipartisanship

• National Governor's Association Disagree Better Initiative

• Issue One article about Congressional Modernization

• Article noted above that speaks to bipartisanship as the secret sauce for effective lawmaking

Wishing you all a good Memorial Day. Thanks to all that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

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Newsletter - April 2024

My first two good government principles, free and fair elections and providing voters essential information, focus on electing legislators that reflect our views and meet our expectations.

My third principle, commitment to problem solving, focuses on how we'd like our elected legislators to do their job. Too often politics gets in the way of producing meaningful legislation designed to address difficult problems. Remember the failure to pass the "grand bargain" in 2011, which would've shored up Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and greatly reduced our federal deficit. Or immigration reform, an issue that presidents from both parties have also failed to address, despite its growing importance to voters.

The recent bipartisan legislation on foreign aid, although a very messy and lengthy process, is a positive example of members of Congress working together to produce meaningful legislation. A big contributor to this successful outcome was respect for each other's priorities shown by members on both sides of the aisle. More on "respect" next month!

One of the recommendations that resonated with me from this article on pragmatic problem solving is to "begin with agreeing on the problem, not the policy outcome you desire." Too often, our elected representatives are more interested in promoting their agenda than addressing the problem at hand.

Effective problem solving requires defining the problem to be solved, followed by a good faith effort to solve that problem. As voters, we need to demand such a commitment from our elected officials and need to applaud and recognize those in Congress like the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus that has stated their commitment to advancing common-sense solutions to key issues facing our nation.

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It has been a busy and productive last several weeks for Speak Up for Good Government.

I was able to facilitate an introduction between Braver Angels and Voice of the People. Both organizations are doing outstanding work, and I believe there are opportunities for synergies between the two organizations.

Over at the Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity, we launched a website , which includes functionality for election officials, election experts, and voters to review and provide online feedback to our Operations System map.

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This month's social media posts:

• Information about the Problem Solvers Caucus

• An article from PolitiFact that investigates whether the current Congress is the least productive

• Bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive data privacy framework

• An opinion piece on pragmatic problem solving

Thanks for reading and sharing this newsletter with others. Have a great month!

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Newsletter - March 2024

The second of my good government principles is Accurate and Unbiased Voter Info.

Free and fair elections, which I highlighted in last month's newsletter, are the foundation of our democracy. Ensuring all voters have access to the information they need on issues and candidates builds upon that foundation.

Much of the information we are inundated with is misleading and/or requires context and a critical eye. For that reason, a critical aspect of my accurate and unbiased information principle is ensuring every voter has the resources necessary to spot misinformation and disinformation.

With a bit of effort, we can find the information on candidates and issues we need to guide our voting decisions. However, most people don't have the time or the desire to expend the effort required to get that information.

The challenge of wading through the information we are bombarded with and the challenge of finding the data we need can be frustrating and causes many people to tune out and/or too readily accept and amplify information that sounds good or confirms personal biases.

Fortunately, some states and counties provide voter guides that provide balanced information on candidates and issues on the ballot. Here's an outstanding voter guide that was produced for the 2020 election by the League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico.

Voter guides should be standard practice in all states and counties, and should be an expectation of all voters.

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) provides both risks and benefits. We've all heard about the increasing risks of AI generated deep fakes, etc. But AI also provides the prospect of easier access to critical information on candidates and issues through improved search engines and/or AI guided searches. I will be paying close attention to this issue, and share, as applicable in the coming months.

This month's posts:

• A side-by-side comparison of left, center, and right coverage of the State of the Union speech

• Information about Civic Learning Week

• Find Facts Fast - a free text message course designed to help Americans of all ages and backgrounds separate online fact from online fiction

• The Central New Mexico League of Women Voters Voter Guide

Have a great month!