I attended the No Labels conference this week, whose slogan is “not left, not right, forward.”

As someone who cares deeply about our representative democracy, I went to the conference because I believe that our current political system is frayed by the worst partisan politics we have seen in generations. We have a government that simply does not function. Elected officials like Joe Wilson (“You Lie”) are rewarded for incivility who won his re election bid by a 10% margin. They are rewarded by the media for petty maneuvers that have no long-term benefits but short-term gains of winning the message of the day.

They are punished for talking straight to the interest groups that tie their hands. As we have seen the past few weeks through the lens of the tax debate, bipartisanship has now become a dirty word on the right and the left.

Young people have been hit the hardest by the economic recession. One out of four unemployed persons is under the age of 25 and nearly 20 percent of all young workers are currently unemployed. More than 1.3 million workers under the age of 25 have left the work force since the recession began in December 2007.

While resolution of the tax cuts is critical for working families across the nation, we must also ensure that we remain one of the world's dynamic, competitive, and prosperous economies. In order to do so, we must fundamentally reform our education system, overhaul our broken immigration system, and make sure we honor our nation's values of equality and freedom.

Going into 2012, obstructionism isn't a winning strategy for Republicans or for the President. People are paying attention now to how well the kids are playing together in the sandbox, and the most prized toy in 2012 will again be the independent vote. Independents want bipartisanship not because they want the parties to work together philosophically, but because they want to see our system of representative democracy produce results. The party that is seen as the greatest obstacle to productivity will get ousted in 2012.

We seek transparency from our government to expose wrongdoing. However, the content in the WikiLeaks so far does not expose any thing done wrong by U.S, officials. The only thing that WikiLeaks has accomplished is to put diplomatic communications at risk.

There is no doubt that America has an unsustainable deficit over the medium and long-term trajectory. In the past, Congress has simply tried to deal with these issues from a short-term perspective, with politics in mind instead of the health of our economy. This must change. Band-Aid solutions will not solve our deficit crisis.

Congress’s lame duck session begins today. Many promises were made on the campaign trail and whether they get attention during the lame duck session will have significant consequences for Democrats in 2012.

A lot of people were surprised by the appointment of Cathie Black as the new New York City Schools Chancellor.

Given the intensity of the education debate in New York City, I think Bloomberg felt that it was important to pick an outsider. Someone who owes no one anything and who has no ties to either side of the debate because the entire debate on education reform in this city needs to change.

When I woke up the day after my primary loss, I was crushed. We had put an enormous amount of energy, passion, and time into the election. I personally had marched all across Queens and put up my posters and signs. I had over 300 voter-hosted house parties.

My life centered on creating a voice in Washington for those who have long been ignored. When I woke up the day after my election, I was devastated; not so much because I lost, but because I wanted to serve. I wanted to use my ideas and passion to help rebuild this nation.

I know so many candidates and incumbents who lost last Tuesday share this feeling with me. 

Tuesday's results were a not a no-confidence vote against Obama, nor was it a vote for the Republicans’ platform. Polls indicate that voters are mad at everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike. They simply voted out the party in power.

On Wednesday morning, a passionate political debate on deficit reduction will begin that will be on par with the health care debate. Both parties must come to a resolution on how to slash the $1.4 trillion debt and put forth policies to reduce the staggering unemployment rate.

The 2010 elections have demonstrated that sexism is alive and well in politics. Yesterday Carl Paladino shamelessly referred to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand as Chuck Schumer's little girl. Twice.

The power of the November 2^nd ballot measure and the voters' ability to opine on issues like term limits and transparency will be dramatically reduced by the fact that they will have to know to flip over the ballot to cast their vote. The questions will be in small print on the back of the ballot.

On Monday, President Obama said in a radio interview on Univision that he would push for overhaul of our immigration policies after the midterms. Some strategists have argued that this is the best way for the Democrats in to shore up its base and divide the Republicans before the 2012 presidential race.

2010 has been a bad year for campaign finance reformers. Independent groups spent millions on ads without disclosing their donors. Self-funders like Linda McMahon and Carly Fiorina spent millions on personal attacks that have done nothing to make our political system better.

Though they've always been a reliable voting bloc for the Democrats, a recent Gallup poll shows that Republicans are favored by female likely voters 49 percent to 46 percent in this year's elections.

Has the language of hope disappeared from the Democrats' vocabulary? Has the President failed to offer his plan for America in 2020?

New York start-ups are receiving more and more support from early stage investment firms and start-up incubators. This quarter they received $335 million from venture capital firms, with eighty-three deals getting funding.

Not only is the private sectors eyes opening up to the possibility of our city as the next innovation center, so is the city government.

An AP poll shows that a quarter of voters who voted for the Democratic Party in 2008 are voting for the Republican candidate in the midterms and half of them may simply stay at home.

The irony of the DADT policy is that all the relevant parties are on the same page: 78 percent of Americans think DADT should be repealed, top military leaders have called for a repeal, and we have a president who is committed to repeal. But a few obstructionist Republicans have gotten far more air time than they deserve because our broken political system has allowed them to stand in the way of justice.