We hereby petition the House Democratic Leadership and the two dozen moderate Republicans who opposed the recent shutdown and default threat to come together on a new Speaker, a Speaker who will be responsive to the majority will of the House. It's time to throw the Hastert Rule into the dustbin of history.
Why is this important?
This petition hopes to solve the problem of gridlock in the House of Representatives today.
I am a long-time political activist, and I've fought, for forty years, to elect a president from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. In 2008 I finally achieved that goal. And yet, when progressives lost the House in 2010, that was the start of three long years of gridlock and inaction. My hopes were dashed, those of my fellow progressive Democrats were dashed, the hopes of immigration reformers were dashed, the hopes of gun violence reformers were dashed, etc. etc.
The shutdown just concluded definitively demonstrated that Tea Party Republicans are at the root of the problem. A Speaker needs to be elected by a majority of the House who will lead us away from Tea Party-style governing by crisis. It is time to form consensus. It is time to achieve.
