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June 20, 2007

Opening Address At "Ceasefire! Bridging The Political Divide" Conference

Mike Bloomberg

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg's speech as prepared for delivery on June 18, 2007.

"Thank you, Mayor Villaraigosa. It's a pleasure to be in L.A. - the greatest, most exciting American city, west of the Hudson River. (I say that as an entirely neutral observer of course.) I also want to thank the Annenberg School for hosting this conference. The last time I was in California, the Annenberg family hosted a dinner for Mayor Villaraigosa that I had the pleasure of attending. They're a great family, some of whom live in my fair city, but most importantly, if they keep feeding me, I'll keep coming back.

"I hope that tonight and tomorrow, everyone at this conference will share with us their thoughts about the governmental challenges we face in our nation, and how to meet them. Solutions will require a diversity of opinion and fresh approaches. So, in that spirit, let me begin by cutting to the chase of why I think this conference is necessary.

"America, the most wonderful country in the world, is at a crossroads. The politics of partisanship and the resulting inaction and excuses have paralyzed decision-making, primarily at the federal level, and the big issues of the day are not being addressed - leaving our future in jeopardy. We can accept this, or we can say - 'Enough is enough!' - and together, build a bright future for our country.

"I believe we can turn around our country's current, wrong-headed course, if we start basing our actions on ideas, shared values, and a commitment to solve problems without regard for party.

"The point of this conference is clear: We do not have to settle for the same old politics. We do not have to accept the tired debate between the left and right, between Democrats and Republicans, between Congress and the White House. We can and we must declare a ceasefire - and move America forward.

"While a ceasefire is essential, it must also be followed by change. Real change - not the word, but the deed. Not slogans, but a fundamentally different way of behaving - one built on cooperation and collaboration. And it is needed now - because more than ever, Washington is sinking into a swamp of dysfunction. No matter who's in charge, sadly today, Partisanship is King.

"It's become a contest to one-up the other side and to score points for the next election. Decisions in DC these days are more political and less issue-based than ever before, and the consequences have been disastrous.

"When you go to Washington now, you can feel a sense of fear in the air - the fear to do anything, or say anything, that might affect the polls, or give the other side an advantage, or offend a special interest.

"This is paralyzing our government - and it's leading our elected officials to push all the big, long-term problems onto future generations: health care, Social Security, budget deficits, global warming, immigration, you name it.

"Their inaction and partisan gridlock are destroying our relationships and reputation around the world.

"They are hurting our economic competitiveness, driving scientific and medical discoveries overseas, and jeopardizing our future as the land of hope and opportunity.

"They see the same problems we do - but instead of working to address their causes, and provide real, lasting solutions, they tinker around the edges, offering band-aids that do nothing to stop the bleeding, giving us platitudes and promises, but never the decisive and merit-based legislation and leadership we need. And then they blame the other side when the bleeding gets worse.

"Why do elected officials act this way? I think there's one primary answer. They become hooked on partisanship because it offers easy answers. And then it consumes them. It becomes their most important priority.

"We're talking about a serious and harmful addiction here - and unfortunately, there's no 'Promises' clinic for partisanship. (If there were, maybe they'd stop making so many empty promises.)

"The United States can't afford for this to continue. We need Washington to break its addiction, to end the gridlock, and to stop passing the buck to future generations. Leading from the front: It's what built America.

"But these days, the federal government isn't at the front - it's cowering in the back corner of the room, ducking responsibility and hoping no one notices. The fact is, if our country is going to meet the challenges of this new century, all of us who care more about progress than political parties have to take responsibility for ending this corrosive culture of partisanship.

"It's a waste of time pointing fingers and blaming the politicians in Washington - after all, we elected them. No, if we want to Washington to change - we, the individual voters they work for - have to hold them accountable.

"From my experience, ending Washington paralysis means bridging divides, but that does not mean just splitting differences. That's a common political cop out. Public policy is not a zero sum game - and it doesn't always have to be a partisan tug-of-war.

"Believe it or not, by thinking outside the box, and bringing creative ideas to the table...we can increase the overall benefits that both sides can achieve - and more importantly, what America can achieve.

"That's what nonpartisanship permits: Getting big things done, producing real results, solving tough problems. And that's what governors and mayors around the country have been doing - stepping in to solve national problems at the local level, and two great examples of that are Governor Schwarzenegger and Mayor Villaraigosa.

"City and state governments can lead the way, but in many cases, our actions are limited and pre-empted by federal policies. And more and more, those policies are failing to keep up with the times and failing to respond to our most-pressing problems.

"We need Washington to begin taking the same nonpartisan, results-oriented approach that is succeeding in cities and states. As I see it, this approach is based on five values of leadership that have the power to bridge the partisan divide, and it all begins with independence.

"There's nothing wrong with belonging to a political party - about two-thirds of us do. But joining a party doesn't mean you should stop thinking for yourself! Neither party has God on its side, a monopoly on good ideas, or a lock on any single fiscal, social, or moral philosophy. And anyone who says their party does, and the other party doesn't, is either a fraud or just not a good student of history.

"For progress, ideas have to be evaluated on their merits, not their origins. Conventional wisdom must be challenged, no matter whose it is, and we must be willing to call 'em like we see 'em - no matter what party discipline demands. In other words - independence from politics, ideology, and petty selfishness.

"Nonpartisan leadership also requires good, old fashioned honesty and common sense, and I know you'll hear a lot of it from the participants at this conference.

"Promising 'a chicken in every pot' without saying who'd pay for it, or a 'secret plan to end the war' or falling back on 'motherhood and apple pie' without taking on the underlying reasons why families are struggling to make ends meet - that's not honesty. Nor is it honest to make decisions that are guided by political expediency or campaign donations - or by faith-based science, instead of real science.

"Honesty means having the courage tell the public the unvarnished truth - the downsides as well as the upsides, the costs as well as the benefits, and it means making decisions on the merits - and only on the merits.

"I would bet that all the participants at this conference will tell you that voters respect and reward those who rely on common sense to make their decisions and who refuse to let politics get in the way of doing the right thing for the right reasons. Taking this approach builds trust, and trust bridges divides. Governors and mayors are doing this every day, and Washington has to start doing it as well.

"Innovation is another value central to nonpartisan leadership. Innovation means discarding the tired old solutions that haven't worked, digging down to the roots of a problem and finding creative new ways to attack its source. There are a lot of great ideas out there - and goodness knows I don't have them all. But I've made my career encouraging others to develop them - and being willing to try them, even when no one else will.

"Sure, supporting new programs or policies that are untested requires vision and creativity - and that support may be unpopular. But you can't be innovative unless you're courageous. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

"My experience has been that if you have the facts on your side, and you've taken a common sense approach - even if you must admit you're not sure it will work, even if you have to tweak it as you go along, and particularly if you accept input from others - well, pretty soon, people will be lining up to join you because they'll respect your willingness to try and your openness as to the risks. But it's up to you to have the courage to go out on that limb first.

"That leads us to another key value of nonpartisan leadership: teamwork. Teamwork means reaching across the aisle - or down Pennsylvania Avenue - so that you can build the coalitions needed to get things done. But it also means having the best team at home. In both business and government, the organization is only as good as the people who work there.

"We need to hire the best, not the 'yes men' or the campaign contributors or the politically connected. I know that sounds obvious, but it's not in Washington. Where in the Constitution is it written that ambassadors have to be big campaign donors? Passing over career diplomats to give big donors jobs as ambassadors to important foreign posts doesn't help us overseas at the very time that international opportunities and problems should be central to the federal government's planning and work.

"Where does it say we should care about campaign experience or party affiliation in filling federal jobs? That doesn't get us the best and the brightest. Sadly, both parties do it, in both the legislative and executive branches, and both are wrong. I believe you hire the most qualified people, you empower them, you lead them and you hold them accountable.

"And that's the fifth value of nonpartisan leadership: accountability. I built my company on the idea of getting and delivering better data and listening to what the data told me, even when the message wasn't pleasant. By using data to manage, you can hold yourself and others accountable for results. But today, in Washington, instead of using data to make decisions and manage, the data is manipulated to justify ideological positions.

"That's why ideologues throw good money after bad, while results-oriented managers fix problems before they invest more money. Too often, failing government agencies get bigger budgets, while successful agencies have their budgets cut - because government caters to those screaming the loudest, regardless of what they're screaming about. In business, it's exactly the opposite! You invest more in the most successful departments, and less in those that aren't performing.

"Never - or almost never in government - do we promote those who deliver and dismiss those who don't. Never - or almost never in government - do we admit when we fall short of our objectives. Never - or almost never in government - do we ourselves accept blame, and say 'I screwed up.' It's always: 'Mistakes were made,' or 'Round up the usual suspects,' or 'Let's hold a hearing.' Accountability? Good luck!

"All of these values that are essential to nonpartisan leadership apply to business, philanthropy, and government - but in government, they are too often absent, especially at the federal level. The good news is that mayors and governors around the country are embracing these values to tackle the big challenges - and let me touch briefly on a few of them, and how it's possible to bridge the divides and make real change.

"Let's start with education, because it's an issue that Mayor Villaraigosa and I both care deeply about and it's a challenge that both our cities share. When I came into office, New York's school system was failing - badly. And that means we were failing our children.

"Tinkering at the margins for decades had done nothing. In New York, we needed to get at the source of the problem - the inefficient, ineffective, and unaccountable Board of Education. With support from school leaders and parent leaders, we won control of the system - and that's when the hard work began.

"When we announced that we would end social promotion, when we pushed to lengthen the school day to provide extra help for struggling students, when we worked to expand the number of charter schools, when we cut the bureaucracy and re-directed that money into the classroom, - at each point, we were met with resistance from politicians and special interests. But in each case, we succeeded.

"We even raised our teachers' salaries 43% - thereby winning union support and cooperation on critical issues, including a new program of merit pay for our principles. Change is hard, and I understand that. But you can't solve problems by wishing them away, or studying them to death, or deferring to ideological advocacy groups.

"You have to make the hard decisions, take action, and hold people accountable for results: teachers, principals, parents, students - and, particularly with mayoral control, the Mayor and his appointees. The results? Steady progress that is real and has great promise for the future: Graduation rates have increased 20% and test scores have climbed 10% in Reading and more than 20% in Math. We still have a long way to go, but our children are finally getting the opportunities they deserve.

"As bad as our schools were five years ago, the outlook for New York's economy back then was even worse. After 9/11, the conventional wisdom was that businesses would flee and that New York would return to the bad old days of the 1970s, when the City nearly went bankrupt. And there was good reason to be worried: We faced a major fiscal crisis and the largest budget deficits in our City's history.

"But we learned a lesson from the 1970s: when you stop investing in the future, you begin a downward spiral - and we refused to let that happen. So we made the hard decisions to cut the budget without gutting it - insisting that agencies do more with less by achieving efficiency gains.

"And, as a last resort, we even raised property taxes and income taxes on high-earners so that we'd have the money to incent our municipal employees to continu

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