By Kay Whatley, Editor
Did you know that any American can start a petition for change? On petitions.whitehouse.gov, you can sign or start petitions for the issues you’d like to see the government address. Any petition reaching 100,000 signatures or more within 30 days is reviewed by the Administration.
Recently, a group posted a petition that a Death Star (similar to that in the Star Wars films) be constructed. The Administration responded once the minimum 100,000 signature threshold was reached. The response, entitled This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For, a reference to a Star Wars quote, gives a detailed explanation of why the Death Star will not be built.
If this is the first you’ve heard of this online petition website, please do not get the wrong impression about the petitions. Although the petition mentioned was a request to build a Death Star, and there is a petition relating to sasquatch hunting, most of the petitions deal with real issues.
If you visit petitions.whitehouse.gov, you can review available petitions and “sign” the ones you believe are important — or even quirky — and check back from day to day to see how many other Americans have signed. Or, if you have an issue important to you that is not addressed by existing petitions, you can start one. You’ll need to get 150 signatures before it may be found by the search tools. If the issue is big enough, likely you’ll attract signatures.
Before you know it, your petitioning of the government for “a redress of grievances” as stated in the First Amendment of the US Constitution could lead to a response. Your voice may be heard, and one can hope that as the government learns what is important it will make changes in the directions the people desire.
01182013
