With continuing and increasing ease, those in leadership of the United States Congress and at The White House embrace discord rather than discourse.

The absence of conversation has, in part, resulted in their collectively creating a national debt of more than US$26.6 trillion- or US$80,729.00 per citizen (US$213,899.00 per taxpayer).  They have also individually and collectively, often with pride of ownership, needlessly stressed the social fabric inter-connecting citizens to one another.

Members of the United States Congress use their time in Washington to joust, box- but absent the traditional civility of touching gloves prior to the ringing of the bell or after the match shaking hands- and often immediately agreeing to a rematch.

The same imagery continues to engulf the executive branch approximately 1.8 miles away from The Capitol when interacting with members of the United States Congress.

There is a lack of belief in relationship building.  There exists a gravitational pull towards “zero-sum” battles- one wins, one loses; the loser gets nothing and must share with everyone that they were trounced.  Some believe that no agreement is superior to an agreement; compromise is a very very dirty word. Accommodation is viewed as weak, requiring immediate criticism and likely stigmatization.

Decades ago, members of the United States Congress could often be viewed having breakfast or lunch in their respective Members Only dining rooms.  What mattered- those members wanted to have those interactions. 

Today, too many members look upon a shared meal with a member of a different political party as appeasement and treacherous- fearing mention in a blog, Internet site, and Twitter message eviscerating them for weakness; colluding with the enemy.

What’s desperately needed is for those in leadership to create an example for why conversation matters. 

Begin with those in leadership of the United States Congress- elected by members of respective caucuses to represent the whole of the United States, and those in leadership at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Whomever occupies the Oval Office should want to engage directly and consistently with those who support and with those who oppose efforts to achieve consensus.  The President does not serve only those whose vote was cast in the affirmative for his election. 

When there are fundamental, institutional disagreements, those are the moments when requiring face-to-face conversation during a breakfast or lunch can be most instructive.  Granted, some participants might not have much of an appetite, but that doesn’t matter- what’s important is the gesture, the commitment, the time.

United States taxpayers would probably not object to having two members of the United States Congress charge their respective office accounts for the cost of the breakfast or lunch; the same for meals at The White House and United States Department of State and United States Department of the Treasury.  The political party chairs could alternate picking-up the checks.

House of Representatives (Weekly Breakfast or Lunch)
Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Majority Leader
Speaker of the House of Representatives and House Minority Leader
House Majority Leader and House Minority Leader
House Majority Whip and House Minority Whip
All twenty-eight Committee chairs and ranking member
All one hundred-seven Sub-committee chairs and ranking member

United States Senate (Weekly Breakfast or Lunch)
Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House of Representatives
Senator Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader
All twenty-six Committee chairs and ranking member
All sixty-eight Sub-committee chairs and ranking member

The White House
Weekly (Breakfast or Lunch)
President with Speaker of the House of Representatives
President with Senate Majority Leader
President with Senate Minority Leader

Monthly (Breakfast or Lunch)
President with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader

Administration (Monthly Meals- Breakfast or Lunch)
Secretary of State with chair and ranking minority member of Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and chair and ranking minority member of House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Secretary of the Treasury with chair and ranking minority member of House Committees on Ways and Means, and Financial Services and chair and ranking minority member of Senate Committees Appropriations, Budget, and Finance

Political Parties (Monthly Meals- Breakfast or Lunch)
Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC)