Mr. President,

I am requesting that you circumvent the gridlock in the U.S. House of Representatives and by executive decree release funding for the government and for raising the debt ceiling. I know this would be questionable from a legal and precedence point of view as the GAO has maintained (http://www.gao.gov/legal/redbook/redbook.html). However, they also acknowledge that there is precedence for some legal constraints on the power of the purse for the Congress. I might add that I know “the Congress” is specifically intended as the U.S. House of Representatives but I think a legal challenge might question whether this should also include the U.S. Senate. When the Congress passes a bill it becomes legal either after a simple majority or a super majority votes aye on the bill depending on the particular branch of the Congress and its rules. Our country depends on democracy, the majority rules. If the Congress can pass a bill under majority considerations then the continuing budget should also be passed under the same existing Congressional rules for approving the law in the first place. This would make changing the law or financing the law a democratic, majority not an extreme minority affair. It would also make changing the initial bill the preferred way to address financing rather than the current system of budgets or continuing resolutions since the votes would already have to exist by majority consensus to either fund or create a bill. Additionally, the debt limit could be handled by majority consensus as well. I also believe that rules which deny the ability for a majority to even vote on an issue should be abolished. Therefore, I suggest you override the U.S. House of Representatives inability to fund the government and raise the debt limit with an executive order and let the lawyers hash it out in the courts until existing appropriations laws can be changed to reflect the spirit of our democracy and not the obstructions of the few. It seems to me that the ‘full faith and credit of the United States’ is certainly a national security issue. Additionally, the downgrading of our bond ratings has already resulted in an increase to the cost of our borrowing ability and the debt placed on our borrowing. Downgrading our bond ratings more would have catastrophic consequences on our economy and national security that every patriotic American, including yourself, should not allow to happen.