The White House created a petition site one week ago called "We the people: Your voice in our government". With this new online tool, anyone 13 or older can create or sign a petition on WhiteHouse.gov asking the administration to address important issues facing our country.
Once a petition gets 150 signatures, it becomes visible so that anyone can sign it. If a petition gets 5,000 signatures within 30 days, it will then be reviewed and the administration will issue an official response to it.
All responses will be posted in this section of the "We the People" section of the White House website, and if you signed the petition that is being responded to, you'll get an email from the White House with the response.
As of this morning, there are 101 petitions that have passed the 150 signature threshold at the site. There are also 18 petitions that have been created by fellow Kossacks which have not yet reached that 150 signature threshold. This diary is an update on their status, with brief summaries of the petitions where needed.
One petition, on ending the death penalty is only ONE signatures away from being now the first Kossack initiated petition to become publicly visible on the White House website (it just passed the 150 threshold after this update got posted!).
A new group has been created, Kossack Initiated White House Petitions. This group's purpose is to announce, explore, coordinate, develop, publicize, and aid in signature gathering to Kossack initiated petitions. If you'd like to join or edit, please PM me or the group.
Kossack Initiated White House Petitions
Thursday September 29, 2011
The following is a list of Kossack initiated White House petitions, listed in order of signatures gathered as of the morning of Thursday September 29, 2011:
1) Stop the Death Penalty Now in Memory of Troy Davis
Summary: A call to abolish the death penalty.
Signatures: 148 — We only need ONE more to get this one publicly viewable on the White House website! We did it! This one is now passed 150 signatures, but needs many more signatures to reach the 5,000 mark.
2) Make Social Security solvent without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.
Summary: Asks that the cap on wages be lifted and that capital gains be subjected to FICA withholdings to allow Social Security to become more secure, and to allow increased benefits to recipients. For more info on this petition, visit this diary.
Signatures: 65
3) Stop all military operations and withdraw all combat forces from Afghanistan by October 1, 2012.
Summary: A call to stop the war in Afghanistan and try a different approach.
Signatures: 49
4) Abolish the death penalty.
Summary: As stated, and yes, this is a second one — it's bound to happen when the petitions are invisible until the 150 sig threshold is reached. For more info on this petition, visit this diary.
Signatures: 47
5) Save the Postal Service
Summary: Calls on the President to, "Return the $82 billion in funds the United States Postal Service has been forced to overpay into Civil Service (CSRS) and Federal Employee Retirement (FERS) funds, so they can balance their budget without having to lay off employees, close post offices, cut service, and destroy the best Postal Service in the world." For more info on this petition, visit this diary.
Signatures: 43
6) Demand that Congress identify all legislative text that was drafted by industry lobbyists rather than elected officials.
Summary: Asks the President to insist that congress identify language in bills that was not written by congresspeople, and to identify the actual authors.
Signatures: 38
7) Create a Victory Garden 2.0 Initiative to tour the USA and showcase home veggie gardens and community gardens.
Summary: Proposed to help Americans save money, eat more healthfully, live more independently, use space more efficiently, and wisely.
Signatures: 35
8) Adopt the Progressive Caucus Peoples' Budget
Summary: "The Peoples' Budget creates jobs, pays down the deficit, creates a public option in health care, brings our soldiers home, creates better tax system, safeguards Social Security." For more info on the People's Budget (truly a progressive budget), please visit this website
Signatures: 35
9) Listen to educators & parents not billionaires who stand to profit from education "reform"
Summary: As the title implies, it is a call to listen to educators, scholars, and involved parents instead of for profit education "reform" interests.
Signatures: 31
10) Propose and initiate a financial transaction tax
Summary: The tax is proposed to raise revenue as well as make high frequency trading and certain speculative behaviors less attractive.
Signatures: 25
11) Investigate George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for war crimes.
Summary: As the title implies, investigate former president George W. Bush and former vice-president Dick Cheney for war crimes.
Signatures: 25
12) Issue an Executive Order barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for federal contractors.
Summary: As stated in the title. This would bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Federal contracting, by Executive Order (which means the divided Congress would not have to pass anything)
Signatures: 24
13) Increase the minimum wage.
Summary: Asks for an increase in the minimum wage to $10.00/hr.
Signatures: 24
14) Allow every American Citizen the right to directly purchase Medicare or Medicaid health care coverage as a public option
Summary: As the title implies, it calls for changes to Medicare/Medicaid to allow people to buy into the program early as a public option.
Signatures: 21
15) Use the EPA to crack down on CO2. Utilities will borrow from banks (with $ trillions of QE cash) to create green jobs.
Summary: As the title states.
Signatures: 18
16) Create a program to assume the mortgage debt of homeowners who are underwater, allowing them to sell their homes.
Summary: As stated in the title. This would help homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages due to the housing crisis.
Signatures: 16
17) Get out of Iraq completely
Summary: Calls on the President to, "Completely withdraw all troops AND defense contractors from Iraq. If the Iraqis want US to help them with training, let them pay all expenses for it."
Signatures: 19
18) Ask Congress to increase the age limit to 30 for young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance.
Summary: As stated in the title. This would increase the age at which young adults can stay on their parents insurance, as defined in the healthcare reform act.
Signatures: 12
Let's all do what we can to get our fellow Kossak initiated White House petitions over the 150 signature threshold as quickly as we can.
So if you could sign them, and share a links to them on your Facebook, and help actively encourage friends and family to sign the petitions as well, that would great.
Thanks in advance if you sign, and help spread the word!
Update 8:57AM PDT: The first Kossack initiated petition crossed the 150 signature threshold. Keep going everyone!