The parallel crises of the government shutdown and pending debt ceiling collision threaten our economy, our livelihood, and our future. 

Since the shutdown began on October 1, government operations across the nation have ground to a halt. Hundreds of thousands of employees are furloughed and many critical federal programs have ceased to operate -- including small business assistance, food safety inspections, and the CDC’s flu tracking system, among many others. The shutdown has already cost our economy billions of dollars, directly affecting millions of Americans each day that it continues.

At the same time, unless Congress authorizes an increase in the debt ceiling before October 17, the U.S. Treasury has said that it will default on its debt obligations, as well as lapse on payments to government programs such as Social Security checks for retirees. Economists expect this to have a catastrophic impact on the domestic and global economies.

As Americans, we can do better. In fact, we must do better.

We demand that Congress pass a clean budget and raise the debt ceiling – with no strings attached – immediately.

And once we are past this crisis, we pledge to make sure this never happens again.