No Labels

No Labels is an American political organization that supports centrist, bi-partisan policies and politics.[1][2][3][4]

No Labels
FormationDecember 13, 2010 (2010-12-13) (public launch)
TypePolitical
Legal status501(c)(4)
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Region served
United States
Founders
Nancy Jacobson
Tom Davis (R)
National Leaders
Joe Lieberman (I/D)
Larry Hogan (R)
Websitewww.nolabels.org

The group promoted and helped to start the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives[5] It has also built a similar bipartisan working group in the U.S. Senate.[6]The organization also has invested money in creating a lane for a centrist, independent presidential candidate for the 2024 United States presidential election.[7]

Critics of the organization have suggested that No Labels exists primarily to advance the financial interests of the wealthy, pointing in particular to the organization offering large "dark money" campaign donations to members of Congress without disclosing the source of the funds.[8][9][10]

History and policy proposals

No Labels was launched in 2010 by former Democratic fundraiser Nancy Jacobson, with the stated goal of developing and supporting bipartisan, centrist solutions to America's problems.[11][12] Billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Tisch were among initial prominent supporters.[13][14][15][11][12] In 2017, the group helped to start the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of 58 congresspeople which has backed issues such as funding for infrastructure, criminal justice reform, and gun safety in schools.[16]

Media

No Labels has received both support and criticism for its efforts from both the political right and left, including from writers from Bloomberg News, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe.[17][18][19][20][21][22]

Nancy Pelosi as speaker

On November 26, 2018, The Daily Beast reported that "No Labels leadership contemplated a campaign to attack Pelosi aggressively after the primary campaign of centrist Rep. Dan Lipinski," even though Pelosi had supported Lipinski in his primary campaign that year.[23] In the same article, the group countered that "No Labels is not against Nancy Pelosi or any other speaker candidate. We are FOR rules changes that empower members in both parties who want to work across the aisle to find solutions and prevent the fringes–in both parties–from perpetuating endless gridlock." On November 28, 2018, the Problem Solvers Caucus reached an agreement with Leader Pelosi on house rules changes that would foster more bipartisan legislating.[24] In January 2019, the new Democratic majority in the House led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a comprehensive reform package that included House rules changes which No Labels had supported through The Speaker Project.[25]

Funding

As a registered 501(c)(4) organization, No Labels is not required to disclose the identities of its donors.[26]

No Labels' early donors include Andrew Tisch, co-chairman of Loews Corporation; Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread; and Dave Morin, a former Facebook executive.[27] Writing in The New York Times, Frank Rich said: "This is exactly the kind of revolving-door synergy between corporate power and governance that turns off Americans left, right and, yes, center. Oblivious to this taint, No Labels named a few fat-cat donors who have ponied up $1 million-plus... What America needs is not another political organization with a toothless agenda and less-than-transparent finances."[26]

No Labels raised approximately $12 million from 2010 to mid-2014. According to a Yahoo! News report based on its internal documents, "much of the group's budget goes toward sustaining or promoting itself". In May 2014, No Labels employed twenty-two paid staffers and eight consultants. Its projected yearly budget for 2014 was $4.5 million, of which 30% was for "digital growth and press", 14% for fundraising, 5% for travel, and 4% for "Congressional relations". Its donors during that period included former Enron executive John Arnold and his wife Laura Arnold; American investor Alfred Taubman, who was convicted in 2002 for antitrust violations, and his wife Judith Rounick; and private equity investor and Republican Party donor John Canning Jr.[28]

According to The Daily Beast, by the end of the 2018 cycle, No Labels' super-PACs received more than $11 million from fifty-three donors, most of whom come from the financial industry.[10]

A Chicago Sun-Times investigation reported that super PACs related to No Labels include: United for Progress, Inc.; Citizens for a Strong America, Inc.; United Together; Govern or Go Home; and Forward, Not Back.[29][30][31]

Criticism

Toxic work environment

In December 2022, an article in Politico described a "toxic" culture within No Labels, citing a "cutthroat culture, one where staffers are routinely fired or pushed out, have little trust in management, and believe the workplace environment can be difficult for minority and female colleagues."[32]

Specific criticisms included the hiring of Mark Halperin, a journalist and author accused by multiple women of sexual harassment in 2017,[33] who is No Labels' highest paid employee; a Black employee being singled out to discuss race issues at a staff meeting; and a culture in which "staffers are bombarded with emails and demands by Jacobson."

In response to the criticism, several senior officials for the group described staff complaints as coming from, according to Politico, "aggrieved ex-workers" who could not adapt to a demanding office culture.

See also

References
  1. "No Labels: Stop Fighting. Start Fixing". No Labels. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  2. Broadwater, Luke (2020-12-15). "No Labels, Planning Centrist Push in New Congress, Taps Larry Hogan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  3. Pearlstein, Steven (November 9, 2020). "Forget McConnell. Forget Pelosi. In a divided Congress, Biden needs to build his own coalition". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  4. "Why No Labels". No Labels. 2022-08-24. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  5. "A Call to Revive America's Political Center | RealClearPolitics". Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  6. Booker, Brakkton (15 December 2020). "Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Named Co-Chair Of Bipartisan Group No Labels". NPR. Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  7. Brooks, David (September 1, 2022). "If an Alternative Candidate Is Needed in 2024, These Folks Will Be Ready". The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  8. Grim, Ryan (September 23, 2021). "Dark-Money Group to Donors: Reconciliation Bill Can Still be Killed". The Intercept. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  9. Fang, Lee (August 26, 2021). "No Labels Offered Conservative Democrats Hundreds of Thousands to Spurn Nancy Pelosi Fundraiser". The Intercept. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  10. Stein, Sam; Markay, Lachlan (December 3, 2018). "How No Labels Went from Preaching Unity to Practicing the Dark Arts". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  11. Clift, Eleanor (2015-04-11). "The Only Bipartisan Game in Town". Retrieved 2019-02-02. ...the non-profit group that was founded in 2010 to advocate for that elusive middle way.
  12. "A No Labels solution to Washington gridlock?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  13. Halloran, Liz (2010-12-13). "New 'No Labels' Movement Seeks Bipartisanship". NPR. Archived from the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2020-12-22. "Those on the far left who say that we don't need to reform Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social insurance programs are wrong and they don't have a credible plan to address our structural deficits. Those on the right who say that we can close our federal financial hole without additional revenues are also wrong."
  14. Siefert, Liz (2010-12-14). ""No Labels" Grassroots Group Determined to Push Back Against Hyper-Partisanship". CBS. Archived from the original on 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  15. Huck, Peter (2010-12-10). "America's search for a third option". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  16. "About the Caucus". Problem Solvers Caucus. 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  17. Klein, Ezra (December 21, 2011). "'No Labels' Stops Whining, Offers Political Agenda". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  18. Hiatt, Fred (June 28, 2015). "No Labels stakes out a national agenda". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  19. Clift, Eleanor (April 11, 2015). "The Only Bipartisan Game in Town". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  20. Frank Rich, The Bipartisanship Racket Archived 2017-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, New York Times (December 18, 2010).
  21. Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington elites push for a consensus that ignores reality Archived 2016-07-30 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (April 16, 2012).
  22. Jennifer Rubin, No Labels, no relevance Archived 2015-11-19 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (January 14, 2013).
  23. Markay, Sam Stein|Lachlan (2018-11-26). "Centrist Group Behind Pelosi Holdouts Plotted to Make Her 'Bogeyman'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  24. McPherson, Lindsey; McPherson, Lindsey (2018-11-28). "Problem Solvers to Back Pelosi for Speaker After Reaching Agreement on Rules Changes". Roll Call. Archived from the original on 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  25. "The Democratic House wants to reform democracy. It's not a panacea — but it's a start". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  26. Rich, Frank (December 19, 2010). "The Bipartisanship Racket". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  27. Langley, Monica (November 24, 2010). "Aiming for the Political Middle". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  28. Shiner, Meredith (July 28, 2014). "No Labels? No results? No problem". Yahoo! News. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  29. Fang, Lee (2018-11-29). "Billionaire Republican Donors Helped Elect Rising Centrist Democrats". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  30. "Bipartisan 'No Labels' group's super PAC network revealed: mega Chicago donors". Chicago Sun-Times. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  31. Stein, Sam (2018-12-03). "How No Labels Went From Preaching Unity to Practicing the Dark Arts". Archived from the original on 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  32. Lippman, Daniel. "Inside the turmoil roiling No Labels' unity ticket presidential campaign". Politico. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  33. Darcy, Oliver. "Five women accuse journalist and 'Game Change' co-author Mark Halperin of sexual harassment". CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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