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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Delegation's Interest in Our Views a Lot of Hot Air
By James Crawford
Los Lunas resident
Are our elected people (I would like to say “representatives” but that isn't a true characterization) listening to what we the public are telling them?
The answer of course is a big, fat No!
Let's look at health care as an example. I doubt if even the most ardent supporters could say the health care proposals were perfect. Untold numbers of letters and phone calls were sent to the people in Washington. Hours and hours were spent in town hall meetings. Countless problems were identified and suggestions for changes were made.
So what was the result of so many people becoming involved and spending the time and effort to convey their thoughts and ideas?
Instead of taking 1,000-plus page monstrosities and simplifying them, removing irrelevant parts, making them affordable and making them say in writing what the bureaucrats were claiming, the House adds on 1,000 more pages of gibberish that no one, including its members, will read or understand. Queen Pelosi then tries to push her double monstrosity through the House in a big rush with limited debate.
This is hardly a reflection of what most people would expect or want.
I and others have written many letters and e-mail notes to our elected people. The only response, if there is one at all, is a general form letter. The identical form letter is often used no matter what the original comment happened to be.
I have so many copies of the identical form letter from Sen. Jeff Bingaman that I should have it memorized by now!
Form letter contents are usually self-aggrandizing, boasting about the wonderful things the person has done in health care, global warming or whatever. The form letters sound more like a campaign speech than a discussion of the commenter's issue.
There is no reference to the commenter's note by date. The commenter has no way of knowing which of their comments is supposedly being addressed. I have yet to see a specific response to any of the comments I have submitted.
It is hard to conclude that these people are serious about what the citizens have to say.
Of course, in reality all of the town hall meetings and solicitations of comments were merely eye-wash to make us think they were listening. These bureaucrats are going to do what they had in mind from the very beginning no matter what the public says. None of them particularly cares what, if anything, gets passed in either chamber. They will take whatever has been agreed upon among themselves behind closed doors and attach it to some anonymous tax bill out of the House of Representatives.
Bing bang bong and with 51 Senate votes it passes, and on to (President) Obama to sign.
These people are going to use every underhanded and devious trick in the book to get what they want in spite of what any of us say.
Wake up America! Let's take back our Constitution and not let it be eroded any further.
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