Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform, or ATR, a taxpayer advocacy group he founded in 1985 at President Reagan’s request. ATR organizes the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which asks all candidates to commit themselves to oppose all net tax increases. Norquist also chairs the DC-based Wednesday Meeting, a weekly gathering of more than 150 elected officials, political activists, and conservative movement leaders. Today, he shares his views on the most effective forms of bipartisanship.

Grover Norquist argues that true bipartisanship is not best represented when moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats work together, since they are not that far apart ideologically, but rather when liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans work to find a solution. Some examples are criminal justice reform and civil forfeiture where liberals and conservatives can find common cause even if it is for different reasons.

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Sir Clive Gillinson is a British cellist and arts administrator. He is best known for his long tenure as the Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 2005, and his current position as Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. Today, he will discuss the arts community, how they have been affected by COVID-19, and how they hope to recover. 

Sir Clive Gillinson notes that Carnegie Hall is not merely home to a prestigious arts venue, but also maintains extensive educational programming, reaching roughly 800,000 individuals annually. Carnegie Hall has had to cancel all in-person programming through at least January of 2021 and has been streaming performances in the meantime. Unfortunately, arts venues will be among the last parts of our economy to reopen. 

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Howard Marks and Chris Stadler are the National Co-Chairs of No Labels. Howard is the Director and Co-Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, a global investment management firm with headquarters in Los Angeles. Chris Stadler is a Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners, based in New York.

Howard Marks and Chris Stadler focus a lot on the disconnect between the stock market and the economy. As they note, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have infused the market with unprecedented stimulus, which was necessary to keep the economy afloat but has also inflated the price of various assets. But as Marks notes, the markets have the ability to go from flawless to hopeless and back again very quickly, so expect plenty of volatility ahead.

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Lonnie Bunch III is a historian and curator who now serves as the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was previously the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Today, he will discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Smithsonian Institution and the current racial turmoil in America.

Secretary Bunch is hopeful that this could be a moment of possibility, not unlike other times of unrest that have pushed the country forward. For perhaps the first time, a diverse array of people are acknowledging racism as a universal problem, not just a black problem. But as a historian, he is worried about the effort to completely disregard the contributions of consequential figures like President Woodrow Wilson, who also embraced racist beliefs in their time.  

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Frank Luntz is an American political and communications consultant, pollster, and pundit and the author of Words That Work. His well-known focus groups often highlight the importance of language in shaping public opinion and policy. Today, he will discuss the social unrest in America, the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and the disappointing leadership coming from both political parties at the moment.

Frank Luntz notes a few unprecedented developments in public opinion. Racial equality protests are broadly supported across racial groups in a way they never were in the past. And the medical profession has approval ratings in the 70s, making it one of the few institutions seen positively at the moment. Before this crisis, President Trump was receiving high marks from the public on the economy, but now that has collapsed along with his overall approval rating.  

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Oscar Munoz is the executive chairman of United Airlines, having previously served as CEO from 2015 to 2019. Today, he will discuss how United and the airline industry have navigated the economic and health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and what to expect from the industry moving forward. 

Oscar Munoz says airlines were the first industry to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic because of the global nature of both the disease and the industry. However, he proudly notes the efforts of the United family to transport personal protective equipment and medical professionals around the world during this crisis. Shockingly, the industry is operating at roughly 10% of what it should be at this time of year and Munoz does not expect a sustained turnaround for the industry until a vaccine is available. 

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David Holt became mayor of Oklahoma City in 2018, voted in with 78% of the vote. Before taking office, he served in the Oklahoma State Senate for eight years. And Bryan Barnett has served as mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan since 2006. He also serves as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Today, they will discuss the challenges of serving as mayors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Holt explains that Oklahoma City began to experience COVID-19 rather late in comparison to other cities and states, and that allowed for a faster and stricter response early on that explains their lower case numbers. Mayor Barnett laments the reality that whether you wear a mask or not seems to be an advertisement for your political allegiances. Both he and Mayor Holt claim that politics at the local level does not have the same partisanship and they wish that attiude was more often embraced in DC.

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Alan Dershowitz is a lawyer and a scholar of constitutional and criminal law.  At the age of 28, he became the youngest person awarded a full professorship at Harvard when he began teaching at Harvard Law School. He retired in 2013 after almost 50 years. He has also been part of a number of high-profile cases, including those involving OJ Simpson and Harvey Weinstein, and Donald Trump’s impeachment. Today, he discusses what he believes to be dangerous attacks on free expression nationwide.

Alan Dershowitz discusses the recent Op-Ed in the New York Times by Senator Tom Cotton that led to the resignations of two of the paper’s editors. He notes the trend among media outlets of banning commentators or authors who might have controversial opinions. He sees a similar trend in universities. He goes on to note the dangers of the seeming elimination of free speech and due process that continue to go uninvestigated by the media.  

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Dan Quayle was elected to represent Indiana in Congress in 1976 and in the Senate in 1980. In 1988, he ran as George H.W. Bush’s running mate, and served as vice president until 1993. Since 1999, he has been Chairman of Global Investments at the private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management. Today, he will discuss the bipartisanship on which he relied while in office, his foreign policy concerns in a post-COVID world, and the alienation in politics today.

Vice President Quayle is concerned by the decline of globalism and the tension growing in the relationship between the US and China. As the world becomes increasingly nationalistic, he thinks the competition between the two countries will also increase. In a similar vein, he expresses a concern about the division that has become normalized in politics, both between the two parties as well as between the executive and legislative branches.

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Joe Lieberman represented Connecticut in the Senate from 1989 to 2013. In 2000, he ran as Al Gore’s Vice Presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket. Now, he serves as the national chairman of No Labels. Today, he will discuss the critical importance of bipartisanship at this moment in American history.

Senator Lieberman emphasizes the importance of compromise in U.S. history, beginning with the Constitutional Convention and the famed Connecticut Compromise which created the US House and Senate. It’s a lesson that both he and No Labels believe our leaders urgently need to relearn today.

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