Media, Pa. – Advocating for a new practical, accountable approach to addressing our nation’s problems with principled compromise, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) took part in the opening event for a new organization that supports his view of the need for independent leadership and the importance of the “vital civil center” in our national dialogue – “where ideas are judged on their merits.”
The group, No Labels, invited the Congressman to help officially launch its platform promoting a moderate, pragmatic way of dealing with challenges by having leaders work together rather than allow partisan rhetoric to interfere with sensible solutions. (Congressman Sestak addressed this subject in depth last June at the Commonwealth Club in the attached speech titled “A New Era of Pragmatism.”)
The Congressman urges citizens to take an active role in changing the attitudes in Washington that have impeded our nation’s progress and calls on political leaders to view the results of recent election cycles as a demand to end “politics of usual.”
“I am taken with this organization because it is founded to achieve the transformation in our government that is most needed,” said Congressman Sestak.
According to Sestak that the country needs leadership that will not compromise its principles. But leadership that to put all ideas on the table and work with everyone toward a pragmatic and principled compromise so that we can make progress in addressing our most pressing challenges.
“In my travels and meeting with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, their common frustration is that the politics down in Washington is taking precedence over working together to do what’s best for our nation, and they have lost trust in government. They didn’t vote the Republicans in, they threw the Democrats out, much like they did the reverse two years ago. Good, pragmatic ideas – like on tax policy – have been losing out to the politics of Washington for many years now. We see far too much partisan bickering for the sake of political calculation and not enough principled compromise. Not nearly enough politicians on either side are acting as public servants who would be willing to lose their job to do what’s right.”
Born and raised in Delaware County, former 3-star Admiral Joe Sestak served in the Navy for 31 years and now serves as the Representative from the 7th District of Pennsylvania. He led a series of operational commands at sea, including Commander of an aircraft carrier battle group of 30 U.S. and allied ships with over 15,000 sailors and 100 aircraft that conducted operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. After 9/11, Joe was the first Director of “Deep Blue,” the Navy’s anti-terrorism unit that established strategic and operations policies for the “Global War on Terrorism.”