With the federal government shutdown, a new petition gaining strong support will demand that lawmakers on Capital Hill have their paychecks frozen.
After the Republicans and Democrats were unable to come to a deal, the federal government shut down at Midnight, Tuesday morning. With thousands of workers furloughed, national parks and museums closing and millions of Americans not knowing what will come next, the one thing that stayed the same was that pay for all members of Congress will continue.
Presented by Moveon.org, a petition was started that demands that all members of Congress not be paid during the remainder of the shutdown. The petition statement is clear and to the point, gaining thousands of signatures each hour.
"I demand that members of Congress NOT get paid during a self-inflicted government shutdown. It is morally reprehensible that hardworking federal employees will stop receiving the paychecks they need to feed their families and pay their mortgages, while Congress still gets paid for refusing to do the job they were elected to do."
The petition continues on, pointing out the Republican obsession with getting rid of "Obamacare" even if it means hurting the American people in the process.
"Since October 1st, hundreds of thousands of middle-class federal employees have been furloughed due to irresponsible members of Congress who refuse to govern for the well-being of the American people. The GOP-controlled House of Representatives decided to shut down the government rather than pass a spending bill that funds the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as 'Obamacare.'"
The petition notes that Congress should "take responsibility for their own inaction and lose their paychecks" until a deal is reached on Washington to get the government up and running. Former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura commented earlier this week that if Congress is going to shut the government down, Americans shouldn't have to pay taxes to contribute to their paychecks. The petition has garnered nearly 300,000 signatures and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon.
One must wonder how fast a deal would be reached if congressional pay was suspended along with the government? At the end of the day, it always seems to be about money and if Congress' paychecks were on the line, the government would be alive and well.
