To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Federal Elected Officials: Pass legislation to prevent the US from going over the fiscal cliff or...
Failure to avert the fiscal cliff will cause American citizens financial pain, while obstructionist legislators escape its consequences. Instead let's hold obstructionist legislators responsible and accountable by fining them a daily percentage of their salaries until they successfully pass legislation. Based upon an idea by Ari Melber, MSNBC analyst, I suggest a petition insisting that: 1) if the House Speaker or Senate Majority Leader fail to schedule a vote on proposed legislation or the Senate Minority Leader prevents such through filibustering, notice of such be broadcast loudly, widely, and continuously until resolved; 2) when the vote is taken, all legislators and their "yay" or "nay" votes be broadly publicized so that obstructionists are identified; and, 3) Americans mobilize and band together through further petitions, letters to newspaper editors, calls to elected officials for those obstructionist officials to forfeit a percentage of their salary until that legislation is passed (Melber suggested a daily fine of 25% of total salary which would be noticeable but perhaps unenforceable, yet would draw attention to the seriousness with which Americans hold their representatives accountable ). America was founded "of the people, by the people, and FOR the people" so it seems obvious that the time to assert our ownership of our country is now.
Why is this important?
With America mere days away from the financial crisis termed the "fiscal cliff" which would cause the widespread financial burdens for all Americans and particular hardship for many of the most vulnerable including loss of long-term unemployment pay, increased payroll taxes, increased income taxes, and the jeopardizing once again of the US credit rating, it appears appropriate for Americans to shift the consequences for that obstructionism to those responsible: the Federal Legislators, including John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and all House and Senate legislators of both parties.