Stop the tyranny of the minority

Tell House Republicans: Stop holding the government hostage to your extremist demands.

Intransigent and irresponsible Republican extremists in Congress have precipitated a government shutdown that will cause widespread economic pain. Pick up the phone today, and demand that Republicans like Representative Patrick Meehan stop holding our economy hostage to their extremist demands. Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Dear Jim, The way our government works shouldn't be dictated by a small minority of irresponsible extremists in Congress who are willing to blow up our economy in order to get their way. But when faced with an urgent need to fund the federal government to avoid a shutdown, House Republicans refused to simply extend governmental funding at current levels. Instead, they gleefully took the entire economy hostage by insisting on a budget bill that contained a grab-bag of ideological demands and poison pills wholly unrelated to government spending. And they did this knowing that the Senate would refuse their ideologically driven demands. We need to make sure Republicans like Rep. Meehan, who represents you, hear from their constituents who want them to stop holding the economy hostage to their extremist ideology. Call Rep. Meehan today. Tell him to stop holding the economy hostage. Click here for the number to call and a sample script. In essence, Republicans like Rep. Meehan have been playing a high-stakes game of chicken with our country's well-being, hoping that Democrats blinked first and caved to their unreasonable demands. After already compromising once by accepting painful budget cuts, the Senate Democrats thankfully refused to go along with further Republican hostage-taking, which would have only encouraged Republicans to do the same thing all over again when we face the need to raise the debt ceiling in a few short weeks. So now, we find ourselves in a government shutdown that Rep. Meehan helped cause, which will deal a body blow to our already-struggling economy and prevent the basic functioning of government services that help already-struggling members of our society. For example: 800,000 government employees will be furloughed, and a million more will be forced to continue working without pay. Every national park and monument -- from Yosemite to the Statue of Liberty -- will be closed until the shutdown ends. And neighboring small businesses that rely on those visitors will face immediate hardship. Social Security will be unable to process new disability claims in a timely manner. The supplemental food assistance program for women, infants and children (WIC) could cease functioning. Allowing this to happen because the Senate and the president refuse to agree to policies the American people soundly rejected at the ballot box is a totally unacceptable abdication of Rep. Meehan's responsibility to ensure the basic functioning of government. Call Rep. Meehan today. Tell him to stop holding the economy hostage to extremist demands. Click here for the number to call and a sample script. Thanks for speaking out. Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets P.S. Ever since Republicans regained control of the House in 2010, we have seen them routinely engage in irresponsibly high-stakes brinksmanship with Democrats. And it's fair to say that we are at this crossroads because Democrats caved time and again rather than stand strong. But public opinion is squarely against the Republicans, and for the time-being Democrats look poised to stare the Republicans down and force them to accept what is (it bears repeating again, a compromise) plan to keep the government running at current funding levels. If you have a Democratic senator, click here to make a call to ensure that Senate Democrats continue to stand strong. Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

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