The political ads have gone off the air, and the campaign signs are on their way to the recycling bin. After a long campaign, we’ve all voted, and we know who will take office in January. So what’s next? What do you want the new members of Congress and President Obama to do on their first days in office?
We want to hear from you! Today marks the kickoff of our #DayOne campaign. Tell us your ideas for what Congress and Obama should do on their first days of the new term by using the #DayOne hashtag on Twitter, leaving a comment on this blog post, or commenting on the It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard Facebook page.
AAUW already has ideas about what we want to happen — we outlined many of these in our September 2012 report on the Obama administration. We’ll continue to advocate for these policies no matter who’s in Congress or the Oval Office. Here’s some of what we’ll be saying on Twitter:
- On #DayOne, Obama should issue an executive order outlawing fed contractors from retaliating against employees who ask about compensation.
- On #DayOne, Obama should require federal agencies to conduct Title IX compliance reviews @ all institutions receiving federal funds.
- On #DayOne, Congress should introduce a jobs plan that will create high-wage, high-skill jobs for all Americans, especially women & minorities.
- On #DayOne, Obama should reverse the decision to restrict the purchase of Plan B emergency contraception to women 18 and over.
Tell us what you think should happen on #DayOne, and at the end of the week we’ll compile the suggestions and present them to the new Congress and the president’s transition team. You made your voice heard with your vote. Don’t stop there. Hold elected officials accountable!
Eliminate Title IX for STEM programs or require TITLE IX compliance for all disciplines not just male dominated ones. That is just pure sexist.
Figure out a way to reduce the deficit
What I want to see on day 1 is the following:
1) Shut down the drone program and get us out of Afghanistan.
2) Close Guantanamo Bay PERMANENTLY! Dismantle it, so it can never be used again for nefarious purposes.
3) Get those solar panels up on the White House (one of dozens of promises the President COULD have easily kept, but still hasn’t)!
4) Get renewable energy resources financed, up and running, nationwide.
5) Cancel all off-shore oil drilling access to all fossil fuel companies.
6) Arrest the bankers involved with the 2008 Wall Street crash! Add Cheney and Bush to the arrested individuals, for their involvement in war crime activities.
1. Immediate steps toward reforming campaign financing fund-raising.
2. Filibuster reform in the Senate with a return to majority rule.
3. Something done very rapidly about decreasing student debt and swinging college education availablity to merit rather than just money.