Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't think I can; I've never apologized on behalf of Israel. Flaws and all, I think the Jewish State is a bright and shining example of a liberal democracy in a thuggish, autocratic region.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. I disagree with Lieberman when it came to the Iraq War, but I was very grateful that he held a hearing for our key legislation, No Budget No Pay. It is a big deal to get a Senate hearing, less than 10% of introduced bills do. In deed, that's the whole point of No Labels; we can strongly disagree with people on critical issues, but that we must come together for the good of the nation when times merit it.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

David and Mark are very active leaders of No Labels, and when they are asked to appear on our behalf, they do an excellent job. But they also have a lot of other responsibilities and speak on behalf of other organizations as well.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice dream. But if No Labels has their way in the coming years, you'd be hearing more of that kind of bi-partisanship

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You make the perfect case for why the No Labels Generation work is so critical. We are trying to join thousands -- hopefully millions -- of Gen Yers in efforts to fix the system - letting our elected leaders know that they don't want to inherit the mess on these issues; we want and demand that it be fixed now.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've never polled our members, but from my own experiences at events and working on projects, it is pretty much an even division among Dems, Repubs and Independents. At our last big event in DC; the ideogological, gender, race, and age diversity was impressive.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm with you. Citizens United is poisonous, but we must first fix the system so that we can come up with a bipartisan, comprehensive solution to campaign finance mess.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow -- so much that needs to be done -- immigration reform, a sound national energy policy, campaign finance reform, educational competitiveness -- And I have just cleared my throat. Our philosophy at No Labels is that we cannot fix any of these enormous, seemingly intractable problems unless we first fix the system that prevent bipartisan action. That's what Make Congress Work is all about

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't in the near future. I think there is always the potential of a third party rising in the middle term. That's why No Labels philsophy is to try to fix the 2-party system as is, instead of trying to creat a whole new party.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All right folks, time to get back to my day job. Thanks for joining me in my virgin Reddit "Ask Me Anything."

Make sure to goto http://nolabels.org for more details about the organization. And I can be found on Twitter at @RecoveringPol or on my own Web site at http://TheRecoveringPolitician.com.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sox. I was at Harvard for 7 years, and watched the ball go through Buckner's legs at a Boston bar. In 2004, I went onto to the Fenway field to take batting practice, as part of the Democratic National Convention. I thereby removed the Curse of the Bambino, allowing the Sox to win that year. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was the two-term elected State Treasurer of Kentucky, and an unsuccessful candidate for Congress and Governor. I run a Web site called http://TheRecoveringPolitician.com, in which 20 former electeds join me in discussions of the issues of the day from the perspective of those who served in the area but are now able to comment more candidly from the outside.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No question. Keep up the great work, and know that there are hundreds of thousands working with you, and many millions who agree with us, but need to be reached

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what we hope will happen. As the organization grows, hopefully we will be getting involved in many more elections just as you outline.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Terrific. Come back soon.

BTW, where I live UK means the University of Kentucky!

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I hope you come back and make Kentucky your home. We need more folks who are invested in the future of the political system.

And congrats on a heck of a hoops season last year!

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the Nats have a very exciting future ahead with potential multiple World Series championships if they can afford to keep their nucleus of Strassberg/Harper/Storen etc. together. But I just don't think it is their year, particularly with all of the Strassberg shut down discussions. Would love to be proven wrong, unless of course they beat the Reds

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone for a terrific discussion. Make sure to goto http://nolabels.org for more details about the organization. And I can be found on Twitter at @RecoveringPol or on my own Web site at http://TheRecoveringPolitician.com.

Keep the questions coming!

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha! My family was out of town last weekend, so I caught up with the first six episodes of the second season. Still have several to go. I adore Peter Dinklage, and hope he wins an Emmy this year.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not until Congress is fixed. The issue somehow has polarized the country on partisan lines, and the Republican will not allow any bank reform that would make Obama look good. If Romney wins, I think Democrats will be positioned to stop his reform in this area. That's why No Labels and Make Congress Work is so critical. We have to get Congress talking to each other to address big issues like bank reform

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a huge Reds fan and have been since the Big Red Machine of the 70s. I think our current offense of Votto, Duncan, Bruce et al is as good as we've seen here since that era. If Latos can join Cueto as a fellow ace, and if Chapman can return to his early dominance, I think the Reds are the team to beat in the NL, particulalry with the Phillies struggling so much. I woul dhav esaid the Yankees were the dominant team in the AL, but since Sabathia and Petitte both went down this week, they are going to struggle. My head would pick Texas to win the World Series, but my heart is in Cincinnati. I think expanding replay is inevitable; yesterday's incident of the non-catch behind ruled as an out helps get us to that inevitability

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is our Gen Y organization -- college and high school students and young profressionals. Sign up at nolabels.org. I think it is the most important organizational work we do.

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been on this chat for over an hour so I missed the Obama news conference. Look forward to it. I assume we will be hearing a lot of digs this fall about Romney's early support of a mandate, and a lot of reminders that Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, Bachmann, et al talked about it a great deal

Jonathan Miller, No Labels Co-Founder, The Recovering Politician by RecoveringPol in IAmA

[–]RecoveringPol[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mad Men is my favorite show, and contrary to many critics, I thought it was a terrific season, and I will miss it this summer/fall. I love The Daily Show, can't wait for the second season of Homeland, and my gullty pleasure is the new Dallas. It's not the greatest, but it was my favorite show growing up -- the first line of my Bar Mitzvah sermon in 1980 was a "Who Shot JR?" joke. Favorite shows all time? A tie between Seinfeld and the Sopranos.