Pass the Bills During the Lame Duck Session

Pass the Bills During the Lame Duck Session

Dear President Obama, Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen;

As Progressive, Liberal, Democrats we are asking you to honor our wishes and pass legislation during the Lame Duck Session. This is very important to us and could be our last chance for many years. We don't wish for you to compromise with the conservatives on these.

1) Repeal DADT and pass ENDA

2) Pass the Dream Act (either as part of DADT or separately)

3) Extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the middle class and the poor but NOT for the wealthiest 2%.

4) Pass the Disclosure Act

5) Pass the FRAC Act

6) Pass the Employee Free Choice Act

7) Pass the Fair Elections Act

8) Support Donna Edwards' and John Conyers' Amendment to the Constitution that will limit Corporate spending in elections and correct the poor decision made my the Supreme Court in the Citizens United vs. FEC ruling.

9) Pass Cap and Trade *see note below

10) Extend Unemployment benefits

11) If there is time please consider the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act

12) We prefer you to cut Defense spending rather than Social Security, Medicare or Education.

13) Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

14) Pass the Eliminating Disparities in Diabetes Prevention Access and Care Act of 2009

15) Pass the Audit the BP Fund Act

16) Pass the Elder Abuse Victims Act

17) Pass the National Bombing Prevention Act

18) Fix the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act so that it isn't paid for by cutting food stamps

In addition to the above we would like for our voices to be heard over the next couple of years on Health Care Reform. Please do not compromise with the Republicans on this. We can't afford to give up what we have gained. However, we would really like for there to be either a public option added to it or a 'Medicare For All' plan. Without an option like this the lower middle class and the poor will still not be able to afford health insurance because there will be no competition and prices will sky rocket.

We would like to see an end to the wars as soon as possible. Far too many lives have been lost and they have gone on long enough. They have also caused too much debt that the American people cannot afford. We would also like to see an end, or at least a drastic decrease, in offshore drilling, stricter environmental regulations and clean energy incentives. We wish for education reform that doesn't include the privatization of our public school system. One of our biggest concerns is the outsourcing of American jobs and we wish to see tax incentives only for corporations and businesses that bring American jobs back to the United States, not for those that ship them overseas.

* We only want cap and trade passed as a temporary stop gap until better legislation can be written that will keep greenhouse gases and other pollutants down, whether this be stricter regulations or fines.

We want to move forward and we hope that you will keep this in mind over the next two years. Please do not allow the conservatives to bully you into compromising our progressive values away. There were only slots for 20 names so please share this letter with other Democrats in the House and Senate.

Thank you to those of you who have served us over the last many years and we appreciate your consideration on these very important Progressive issues.

In Solidarity,

[Your name]