According to many professionals, the behavior Congress and the President are exhibiting is worse than college students and similar to what one would find in middle school. Barbara Coloroso, a crusader against bullying, says politicians act like the mean girl who taunts unpopular classmates in the cafeteria. “Bullying is about contempt for the other person…You cannot resolve a major issue like a budget with name-calling, with disdain for the person you’re supposed to be working with.”

Not only are those in Washington bullying each other, they are masters of procrastination, putting off all unpleasant and difficult decisions. “They’re pretty much the worst, hands down, of any group we ever investigated. They’re worse than college students,” said Piers Steel, an expert on procrastination, who has researched it for more than a decade.

A deadline motivates people to get to work, but when it comes to Washington and our nation’s fiscal problems, deadlines aren’t working.  Instead, Congress and the President have blundered from one crisis to another without addressing the real problems. These artificial deadlines are hard to enforce without an external power. “Congress and the president have no judge, no referee, no board of directors. Washington won’t hear from the voters again for two years, and even then the message may be unclear.”

This is ridiculous. Why is it acceptable that the people who are supposed to be running the country can act this way? Nine months ago I was still a college student, and trust me; they procrastinate a lot, so the fact that Congress and the President procrastinate more on much more important issues, with much higher stakes, is appalling. Procrastinating is bad enough, but adding bullying into the mix is a recipe for disaster.

We need to do something about this. We cannot wait until the next election; we must make our voices heard now. We cannot be silent bystanders any longer. Right now you can sign this petition telling members of Congress to stay in Washington, D.C. and reach a deal that addresses our nation’s mounting debt.  If you don’t have Facebook you can sign the petition here.