This isn’t a Weekly Wastebasket.

Taxpayers for Common Sense exists because we think we can make government work. We believe that people with good intentions and common sense can come together around the right choices for the nation.

The intransigence around the fiscal cliff is testing our faith.

But a letter to the editor in the Washington Post, penned by eleven former leaders of the House or Senate, has steeled our resolve.

They wrote:

We believe it is imperative that President Obama and Congress — the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-led House — address the fiscal and budgetary issues that we must face, and we believe your voices will help to sustain the positive statements we have heard from leaders of both parties on these important questions in recent days.

…

We know that charting such a long-term fiscal path will require painful and difficult compromises by Congress and the president.

We also know that those compromises may not be reached unless there is a broad agreement by all of us that shared sacrifice is the necessary requirement to build the bright future for our country — and for the world — that we all want.

We urge all of you who agree with our thoughts to share your own with our national leaders and your elected representatives in Congress. The campaign’s end does not mean the end of your involvement. The men and women you elected and reelected will need your support in making difficult decisions and asking for the sacrifices we will all have to make. We ask that you join us in adding your voice to this national conversation.

Dick Gephardt, Dennis Hastert, Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, Tom Foley, Bill Frist, Trent Lott, Bob Michel, George Mitchell Jr. and Jim Wright Jr.

That’s three Speakers of the House, a House Majority and Minority Leader, and every living former Senate Majority Leader.

We can all agree on common sense solutions. There is a path away from the fiscal cliff. It’s rocky, it’s rough. Doing what is right is not always popular. No one is getting out unscathed. But that’s what we need to do to make government work.

This week we encourage you to heed the words of these former leaders and raise your voice to make government work.