Why is the Congress not affected like the 800,000 Americans that have been furloughed and left with no pay?

Getting House members to work together should be the main job of the House Speaker. The Speaker should not be controlled by a minority of Representatives, as is currently the case. This is all the more urgent since the Speaker is second in line for becoming President! Currently, members of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representatives (Democrats) are under pressure by their own party to vote strictly on party-lines. Yet this means that the members of the minority party essentially throw away their votes and miss a strategic opportunity to elect a more bipartisan Speaker. This is actually possible. It takes only seventeen Republicans, plus all Democrats, to have a majority of the House. If this effort even gets close to working, it will have a lasting effect. As citizens and voters, we insist that our representatives make Congress more bipartisan. Democrats and many Republicans understand that an extremist, no-compromise approach to governance is bad for America and Americans. We want Democrats, as the minority party, and moderate Republicans to work together to elect a moderate, collaborative member of the majority party as Speaker of the House. We need an immediate, limited solution to shutdown and default crisis. However, this petition's call to action is a doable and more permanent way to prevent crises like this one from recurring--by making it difficult for a small radical minority to hold our government and economy hostage. (For more background, see this Washington Post story: http://wapo.st/18OPP6f)

My petition is to prevent government shutdowns and permit timely funding of the government so that agencies and department may plan for the provision of their services in an efficient manner.

I have watched some powerful persons in Washington inflict pain on our general population while being untouched by their actions, i.e., while having wonderful health care themselves, they want to eradicate health care for the poor; while able to afford food for their families, they cut food assistance to the needy. Enough! Time for them to see how their actions affect others.

I am a new student to skyline high school and I am African American. Im being expelled for something i did not do. Im being accused because I was one of the few people that was seen on a recording of a portion of the incident.

I took in two children who were not related to me. After jumping through hoops and getting guardianship. I realize that in West Virginia the laws are not up to date to protect children. In west Virginia you don't have to get a child medical or dental treatment unless it could cause them to die. It isn't considered abandonment to leave your children for mos unless you leave them in public places. And the only way you will get any help from any agency is if you are related to the child. My new little girl is 5. At some point she had 4 teeth knocked half out. She was never seen by a dentist. This poor little girl has had to have 4 tooth extractions, 23 stitches, 4 root canals,3 fillings and 4 caps. And she is not done. All because her mother didn't take the time to care. She is starting her vaccines that she should have gotten as a baby. She has been neglected for years and They wont make her parents accountable. We need to send a message that this is wrong.

As Pro-Union, Pro-555 members, we want to get our Union Leaders to fight for and with us to come up with a plan for a better contract!! Our raises have been going down and out of pocket expenses for healthcare have been going up. We make less money than we did 10 years ago and we are tired of it!! It's time for us to stand up and say we deserve better!! No more bad contracts, no more waiting, no more dragging!! Start preparing NOW for a better contract!!!

This petition is to urge President Obama to use the full power of his office to prevent the crazed rightists in the Republican Party from destroying the financial and economic stability of the United States of America. Minting a trillion-dollar platinum coin would solve this problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion_dollar_coin

Republican Congressman Devin Nunes hit the nail on the head when he said, "It's moronic to shut down government over this." That was after his fellow House Republicans refused to back down from their efforts to overturn Obamacare, forcing a government shutdown. Fair Share organizers are turning up the heat on key congressional members in response to the shutdown, and we need a groundswell of grassroots opposition to the shutdown to break the gridlock in Washington, D.C.

The unwillingness of Congress to govern our country, and the fact that they continue to put themselves above the population as a whole and the laws they create, is unacceptable.

I refuse to sit idly by and watch our leaders get paid, while Americans suffer because of the mess that was made by those who are put in office to protect us.

I feel the government shutdown is unacceptable and it is time we start holding members of Congress responsible instead of letting them get an infinite paycheck. I want to do something, but I have a job to report to every day, and responsibilities that I can't just walk away from to go march on Washington. So for now, let's join together and do what we can by signing this petition to hold Congress accountable for their actions!