Promoting bipartisanship

I found last Friday’s article [“Senate OKs farm bill; House row hard to hoe,” news, June 22] discussing how bipartisan efforts led to a Senate OK of the farm bill to be of particular interest.

Jim Abrams wrote the “64-35 vote for passage defied political odds.” It should not be surprising that our senators were able to work together in a timely fashion. This is not something that should defy political odds, but unfortunately this is the reality of American government today. The inability of our elected officials to “work across the aisle” has led to gridlock and caused our government to be inefficient and wasteful.

I recently heard about an organization called No Labels that is trying to promote bipartisanship in our government. They have a 12-point action plan called Make Congress Work! with some strong ideas that need to be heard. The one that resonated the most with me is No Budget, No Pay —a bill that basically says if Congress doesn’t fulfill their main responsibility of passing the budget on time, they won’t be paid on time either.

I think this is an excellent way to hold our government accountable, and I urge my fellow Washingtonians to reach out to our senators and representatives, and encourage them to support this important piece of legislation.

—Megan Strembitsky, Issaquah