forego payment during the government shutdown.

The American people have lacked leverage in the recent debate over government funding for the next fiscal year. The political posturing of both parties has been absurd and childish. Senators and Representatives are elected to serve the interests of their constituents, and right now the only interests they seem to be serving are their own political ambitions. I therefore propose that President Obama, his department leaders and staff, and the entirety of the Democratic Party still working during this time refuse back-pay after the shutdown resolves as a token of good faith in their interests of serving the American people who elected them to serve. They will prove to the taxpayers who fund their salaries that there are more important things than winning elections and gaining political clout.