Norquist pledge keeps Congress from being the greatest deliberative body in the world. Congressmen should be open & humble critical thinkers, & statesmen willing to compromise for the common good.

The movement that started with Occupy Wall Street needs to move forward. The government needs to always consider the 99% whenever they are making decisions that affect most of the nation. They can't be thinking only about the 1% or the people who give money to politicians

It is utterly insane the amount of spent on political campaigns, we need to put a limit, use the money to help poor and homeless

Reform Washington. Make it illegal for Congressmen and Senators to take anything from lobbyists or Millionares.

Currently it takes 60 votes for a bill to pass the Senate. This rule should be changed in order that a simple majority, 51 votes, would become law.

My petition would take several steps to clean up the federal election process so that one man, one vote actually means what it says. The current process is corrupted by corporate and private money, by political redrawing of election district lines, by voting restrictions and by the existence of the electoral college.

There is no good reason why political leaders should be on a retirement plan, income and health benefits, that is different and better than the rest of us. After all, we voted politicians into office to serve the public, not to be served by the public.

End tax exemptions for all religions, religious institutions and all related businesses and property related to religions.

Shortening bills being proposed to single line items instead of lumping together several issues that do not correspond to each other. This would substantially eliminate favors, earmarks, pork & blackmail. A common sense bill that everyone agrees on, such as recent Income Tax Holiday Extension could get signed thru without all the drama that large bills take on. Senate reviews a proposal, hammers out the details & sends it onto the house, for their review/modification & passes on. Example... recent extension of the income tax holiday lumped with unemployment insurance extension, & oil pipeline snuck in as bonus, should have been three seperate bills. 2011 was a stalemate in DC because the bills were too big, too lumped together. No one was ever happy with EVERYTHING, so NOTHING got done. Citizens have been terribly disappointed with our representatives, & this is one way to make sure they are actually earning their income & benefits by working harder for us, instead of saying NO to everything. This is fair for both parties, it still may be bypartisan, but common sense hopefully will prevail.

The Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision has opened the flood gates of undisclosed and unlimited funding in support or in opposition to a particular elective candidate or policy matter. This decision has placed our political system in the hands of the wealthy and powerful to serve their own special interests.

Preferential treatment for churches is unfair and unwarranted. Since governments, local and otherwise, are struggling for revenue, this tax break is especially burdonsome. Many churches are multi-million dollar enterprises and do not need or deserve to pocket these much needed funds.

The pension policies for people who serve in Congress are far too liberal and far too expensive for the American people to keep enduring. It is time to update them and make them reflect modern values and modern standards.