Unionizing as voters is a SMART innovation

We can crowdsource Congress

America is hurting because of Congressional inaction.

As the legislative branch of government, Congress has the Constitutional responsibility for setting policy and guiding our nation’s growth. Instead, they have abdicated their duty, leaving the other two branches to pick up some slack through judicial decisions and executive orders. Their failure to act has allowed numerous political problems to fester.

We can do better by unionizing as swing voters.

The American Union is such a union, demanding Washington pass transformative legislation in exchange for reelection in 2024. Conventional wisdom suggests that major legislation is undesirable in an election year, but a genuine political reform must be capable of breaking through artificial obstacles. In business parlance, it must be a SMART goal — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. Does the American Union strategy meet these benchmarks?

Specific

Many issues people are passionate about are nebulous, like “healthcare reform” or “protecting the environment.” What that mean, exactly? The American Union avoids this problem by doing the work Congress is failing to do. A people’s legislative assembly will craft legislation encapsulating the expectations of the American Union. This is a very specific demand, and will be presented to them before the election.

(Read more: the 2022 legislation to end poverty, mass incarceration, and the endless wars.)

It has been asked if Congress would amend our proposal, but the simplest technique is what Congressional leadership did in December 2020, when a committee of conference replaced the text of an existing bill with a 5,593 page behemoth. It then went before the House and Senate for a straight up-or-down vote in each body, with no opportunity to offer amendments.

There are no technical obstacles that would prevent Congress from voting on our specific crowdsourced legislative package as written.

Measurable

Judging the progress of legislation is easy to measure; did Congress put the legislative package on the President’s desk before the election? However, for incumbents seeking the winning bloc of swing votes held by the American Union, this is only half of the metric.

Addressing our country’s political problems is just part of a larger goal of patching our social fabric and bringing Americans together through principles of nonviolence. To that end, a 24-hour group fast is held on the 15th of each month, creating a common experience and shared intention to cooperate. It is a fast for peace.

The group fasts culminate on October 15, 2024 — essentially a separate election for the American Union endorsement— where all Americans can opt-in to pooling their votes. Candidates for federal office seeking the endorsement must join in and indicate their participation on social media using the hashtag #fastforpeace. This public statement, or lack thereof, is very measurable.

Attainable

Can a union of swing voters attain leverage over Washington? In 2024, at least 469 seats in Congress will be on the ballot. Control of both chambers is very much up for grabs. In 2022, Republicans captured 51% of the House, Democrats 51% of the Senate, and Joe Biden won with 51% of the vote.

As Samuel Johnson said, “When a man knows is he to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.” With a good faith offer to reelect them on the table, will members of Congress publicly reject it just weeks before their fate will be decided, and throw themselves on their swords in order to keep poverty, keep mass incarceration, and keep the endless wars?

Given this choice, persuading incumbents to meet our terms in exchange for electoral victories is attainable, but not assured. What is very attainable, however, is that a block of swing voters, willing to vote for either major party candidate and armed with a specific metric for making their choice, can dictate the balance of power in Congress.

Relevant

What sort of political positions are relevant to all of Americans? Like finding a common ancestor, the answer lies in going further back in history, searching for the shared values that define us as a nation. Luckily, the framers of the Constitution included five duties in the Preamble for all Americans, individually and collectively, which drive the American Union’s agenda. We can do better as a nation by focusing on these relevant duties.

Our legislative package will establish justice with police and prison reforms, insure domestic tranquility by rallying Americans together around solutions, provide for the common defense with a more appropriate-sized military, promote the general welfare with unconditional basic income, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity by establishing a framework for cooperative democracy. In the 21st century, we the people are more capable than ever in looking out for each other, and making America a place where every citizen has the support to thrive.

For the Republican and Democratic candidates themselves, the American Union of swing voters will be very relevant. Unlike a votes for a third party candidate, which often serve as a spoiler, swing voters are the deciders. When polls show the level of American Union support spans the margin between the top contenders, no serious candidate will be able to ignore these demands relevant to their political future.

Time-Based

The goal of a satyagraha campaign is to convert others to our way of thinking, and persuade them to join us in acting to achieve our shared objectives. This leaves us with a modified carrot-and-stick approach; if incumbents can not be persuaded to accept the carrot of electoral victory and their challengers will, the stick of electoral defeat can only be wielded in November elections. On October 15, 2024, all Americans (especially candidates for office) willing to pledge their votes toward immediate passage of the legislative package are invited to participate in a national fast for peace.

With the public pledge of support from incumbents and voters established, Congress will have until October 23 to put the legislative package on the President’s desk, who will then have until noon on Wednesday, October 30, to sign it. This allows our demands to influence the news for the maximum amount of time in the election cycle, with any final endorsements held until October 31, 2024.

As with any election campaign, our goal of ending poverty, mass incarceration, and the endless wars is definitely time-based. Should Congress fail to meet these terms, the stick will be felt on Election Day, November 5.

Conclusion

Each member of Congress is keenly aware that every big piece of legislation they’ve ever voted for contained a range of provisions and required some compromise on their part. A legislative package to end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars is no different; one aspect of the group fast is demonstrating a willingness to give something up, an essential component for compromise.

Electoral politics has devolved over the decades into a negative system, which loudly advocates for defeating politicians. The American Union offers a positive way forward, toward helping every American — including members of Congress — succeed.

The evidence supports the assumption that members of Congress will be willing to put political gain over professed principals. In December 2020, as the nation watched the Georgia run-offs which would decide the balance of power in the Senate, former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed $600 stimulus checks specifically to help the two Republican candidates.

By breaking down the larger goal (passing transformative legislation by unionizing as swing voters) into smaller pieces, we can see how the entire process can work. When a measurable 3.5% of Americans support relevant Constitutional duties and commit to being the deciders in time for the 2024 election, we will attain the leverage over Congress to enact our specific legislative package.

Clearly, unionizing as voters is a SMART political reform. Join the American Union with a $7/month contribution and a good-faith pledge to vote together on November 5, 2024.

(An earlier version of this post appeared on Medium.)