A Reclamation of Independence.

Here is a website from Rhode Island that seeks to reclaim our government. Now I have to disclose that I am familiar with some of the folks involved. These folks are serious as a heart attack. So, check it out, sign up, and check out the article (click on news) written about them.

Here is their declaration:

We the People of the United States, in order to protect and preserve our rights, demand that our elected Federal officials run an effective government based upon cooperative principles.

The government derives its power from the governed and we, the governed, are displeased with the results achieved by the office holders and their appointees. We are petitioning to reclaim our government. It is our contention that our elected officials should advance the well being of the people by creating a climate where individuals can thrive through hard work and initiative. The foundation pieces for that climate are eroding. We believe our elected officials have done a poor job and are deserving of rebuke.

It saddens and angers us to see:

• The lack of an effective energy vision and strategy
• The lack of a strategy leading to affordable health care
• The lack of an economic strategy that creates and maintains good, value adding jobs.
• The lack of a strategy to achieve excellence in public education
• The lack of a foreign policy befitting the United States of America, a country created as a reaction against abuses and usurpations

ACCORDINGLY, WE THE PEOPLE PETITION TO DOCK THE PAY OF ALL ELLECTED FEDERAL OFFICIALS BY ONE DAY, ELECTION DAY 2006.

It is our fervent hope that this action rings clearly across our land and is heard by our elected officials as a call to real leadership on the issues effecting the lives and futures of all the people.

This is where our fellow citizen is coming from:

A Rhode Island man formed a Web site for citizens to show their dissatisfaction with how the government is functioning Neale Cummisky, from West Warwick, R.I., formed the Web site, www.wethenation.com almost two weeks ago. The Web site posted the “Reclamation of Independence,” a document asking to dock the pay of government officials for just one day: Election Day 2006.

I think people would like to dock their pay for doing an unsatisfactory job, Cummisky said. Cummisky said that he believes this is a way for the average person to make a statement about several issues that the government is not doing correctly.

The Web site does not have any political party affiliation and cannot actually dock the pay for government officials. “It’s a way to say, ‘I’m mad. I don’t think you should get paid,’ for everyone, young or old,” Cummisky said.

On the Web site, there is a list of issues that Cummisky and other people think need to be changed, such as the lack of effective energy visions and strategies, the lack of affordable health care or a plan to get affordable health care, the lack of good, value adding jobs, the poor quality of public education and the lack of a foreign policy to benefit the United States.

Cummisky said the government needs to have at least 10-year plans for each issue to correct them, instead of short-term two-year plans.

Cummisky said he hopes people will take the time to read the Web site and decide if they think the government is doing their job. “Simply take the time to push the button to say, ‘Yeah I agree,’” Cummisky said.

Cummisky said the Web site started as a local effort with only a handfull of signatures on the “Reclamation of Independence” and has started to grow with more than 100 signatures. Still, more are needed, Cummisky said. “[We] Need millions to make a statement to elected federal officials that their pay needs to be docked,” Cummisky said.

Even though the “Reclamation of Independence” cannot actually dock government officials pay, Cummisky hopes officials will see how unsatisfied the public is and dock it themselves for one day.

“Hopefully, officials will give up their pay for Election Day 2006,” Cummisky said. “They can give it to charity or something.”

Cummisky said there are great leaders, but the political system is making it hard for them. “We need leadership and real leaders to do the heavy lifting,” Cummisky said. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s only going to get harder.” Since its creation, “Reclamation of Independence” has only received good feedback, said Cummisky.

The “Reclamation of Independence” will run through Election Day.

Cummisky wants www.wethenation.com to become a forum that people can register their opinions on. “It will be a place where people can express that they aren’t happy and want change,” Cummisky said.

Cummisky said he hopes www.wethenation.com and the “Reclamation of Independence” gets the national attention to be noticed by those in charge. “If it’s successful, that will be great,” Cummisky said. “If it isn’t successful, it will be a bad thing, but at least I tried.”

Yes, Neale, you will have tried. That is more than can be said for most.

Citizen participation in its grandest form.

It is about time!