Obama was elected by people who were both tired of business as usual and by people who found a new momentum and excitement missing from politics for decades.
Obama won because enough Americans believed he could bring hope and change to this nation at a time when we really needed hope and change. I for one, am happy at that turnout of eager and excited voters.
Now reality sets in and we all understand that, campaign promises aside, no President can deliver without a Congress behind his plan. This is where "We the People" come in.
In the past we were content to participate in the election by donating a few dollars or putting a sign or bumper sticker on display. On election day we voted then our only involvement until next election cycle was to sit behind a TV set and complain to the unhearing newscasters when things went wrong.
Few people wrote or called their representatives. They felt their voice did not matter. On a small scale they are probably correct. There is an old saying that the "Squeaky wheel gets the grease" and this surely applies in Congress. In the past month or so something happened; The BailOut Bill. This is not a debate on the merits of that bill but it did bring out the ire of the voters and for the first time in history, Congress's web servers and switch boards could not cope with the shear volume of outrage from ordinary citizens. The House stopped and refused to pass it. Never mind that weaker minds prevailed in the Senate and we are on the hook to bail out Wall Street anyway. But the point is...people yelled and it was felt in the halls of Congress. Grease was applied.
We have a historic opportunity to tap that anger and momentum if we don't let it slip away. While everyone needs to take some initiative to remain in contact with their representatives, I feel that a strong army with a well thought out plan in hand needs to descend on Washington, backed by ordinary citizens, not by well paid lobbies.
To that end I invite everyone to join me on a new site. Joe the Voter. My plan is to unite people of common interest to work with volunteer experts from both the conservative and liberal sides, to formulate some specific ideas and guidelines for legislation in specific areas, such as education, election reforms, welfare, the economy and so on. By creating work groups of citizen volunteers to collaborate on projects, we provide Congress with plans from the people, not from big corporations. Once "ratified" by our membership, we plan to present these guidelines to Congress over the signatures of as many average American citizens as possible.
If you are an expert in any field...let us know. We want you to help guide work groups of ordinary citizens. We want both liberals and conservatives involved.
With the permission of Rob Kall I would love to give OEN the exclusive on each release as we submit to Washington, allowing more people to back us up. Remember this is brand new and like all things new we need your input and suggestions and your help in spreading the word. There is no time to waste.
It is time "We the People" lobby Congress for a change. Join me at and hel spread the word. http://www.joethevoter.org
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