Many of us have been extremely frustrated. We are against the destruction of our country which we saw begin in the Bush administration. We are for the Constitution. Many of us have spent at least part of our lives in service defending that constitution. We are oath takers and, we believe, oath keepers. But now, at least for now, we are not in positions of responsibility (I don't like the idea of "position of power", more later) o we write letters/emails to those who are.

More frustration is the result. We send an e-mail to our Representative, Delegate, State or Federal Senator, Governor or the President and we get inane gobbledy gook trying to skirt the issue of what they have actually done or intend to do, how they have actually voted or how they intend to vote or how my opinion is wrong. We watch them on TV, seemingly deaf to our complaints/worries/concerns calling us everything from ignorant, to selfish, to mobs, right-wing ideologues, unpatriotic, and thugs. This despite that anyone can see that it is THEIR operatives who are such things. Their side is often ignorant of who these speakers are, they are violent, they spout anti-American rhetoric and are members of anti-American groups such as Larasa and ACORN.

Some of us are even more frustrated because some of us who are complaining actually voted for these people. Why? It is pure hell to be mislead, to be fooled, by those who claim to be one thing but are something else. This is our situation in our area with the two Senators from Virginia, Mark Warner and Jim Webb both Democrats both elected on the premise that they were going to be loyal to Virginia and Virginian values first, be financially responsible, and be responsive to their constituents. Both received support and votes from a wide range of Virginians as is necessary to win an election here.

Senator Mark Warner was a former governor of the Commonwealth and I think that perhaps he might just get the idea that all this crap is an unbearable financial burden. Maybe. Senator Webb apparently doesn't get it. The only promise he has moderately adhered to is the pro-gun votes he's cast. In that he is the same as his predecessor.

Senator Webb is one of those people who's direction depends on the wind. Perhaps I should say it is whatever blows him best. A Democrat who became a Republican and served in the Reagan administration who became a Democrat when recruited by Senator Charles Schumer to oppose Senator George Allen it is clear that Webb has little loyalty aside from what he gets in return. Since his election, the result of a race in which the Dem/S used the same tactics they accuse their current policy opponents of using, he has been tapped to be a national spokesman for the Dem/S on TV and elsewhere. He's voted the line for the Dem/S. His offices e-mail responses are just so much trash.

I don't suppose that we'll be able to turn him easily. He's beholding to the Dem/S. After Reagan he wasn't in the limelight, he hadn't done much, and now he's got a place of "power" and security. He owes them. Senator Webb has been bought and paid for.

I know a couple of people who voted for Jim Webb. They told me they liked the fact that he was a gun owner, NRA member, that he would defend their gun ownership rights. They liked that he was a former Marine officer and a combat veteran. These particular people felt that he would have an affinity for their service and experience (and this may have been borne out in his legislative actions in support of veterans despite his party's anti-military bent). They also didn't like that George Allen had used some arcane term they had never before heard to describe a heckler at one of his rallies. As we used to say in the Army, one "aw shit" negates a million "attaboys" and as far as they were concerned, that one incident tipped the scales despite Senator Allen's previous votes in support of their positions. This is what got Webb elected, by a very narrow margin (about 8,805 votes).

Currently, Senator Webb's site asks constituents to contact him on the health care issue. I've been trying to do this but keep getting the message, "issues out of synch". Somebody needs to fix his site. As it is he is deaf to our concerns.

My letter to Senator Webb (one of many):

I am absolutely opposed to any legislation by the current Congress regarding, supposedly, health care or health insurance reform. Having read the House bill, HR3200, I see that any bills that would make it to the stage of a joint resolution committee would likely end up with rather onerous provisions that would cost citizens in taxes and direct health care costs as well as in loss of control over their personal health care and loss of availability of health care services.

I fail to see how the expenditure of as much as $2-Trillion under government auspices will somehow reduce the current $600-Billion spent on health care.

I believe we do need tort reform (not tort immunization) to reduce overhead costs for doctors and nurses AND the costs of unnecessary tests.

I believe we need to change the structure of the insurance business such that health care insurance is the same across state lines in the same way as auto insurance.

I believe that we ought to change the "ownership" of insurance to the beneficiary rather than the employer (although provision should be made for employer contributions as part of total employment compensation) so that having insurance from the time one enters the work force will eliminate the concerns over pre-existing conditions.

I believe that we owe our veterans the promised health care for life to retirees and for those with service connected disabilities. Current proposals to eliminate Tricare for Life and the rationing of care at VA hospitals (a vision of things to come?) is unacceptable. As it is, a retiree PAYS for Tricare Prime.

I believe we can do these things without increasing taxes on anyone.

I want to hear, without obfuscation, what you are going to do.

I don't think that this letter is particularly offensive, angry, or confrontational.

His office's response to earlier comments:

August 21, 2009

Mr. and Mrs. ______ _______
___ _________ ______
________, VA _____-____

Dear Mr. _______:

To follow-up on your earlier correspondence regarding health care reform, I wanted to update you on where this issue stands.

As you may know, Congress has adjourned for the month of August without enacting health care reform. During the coming weeks, I will be carefully examining the reform proposals currently on the table. The fact that the legislation is now on hold will give Congress the opportunity to study these proposals carefully and to hear from interested citizens. It is important for us to be very deliberate on an issue of such importance to the lives of our people.

I have stated on several occasions my concerns that the Obama administration should have begun the process with a clear proposal that could have been the starting point for the work of the five separate congressional committees charged with responsibility for this issue. Without such a specific format, Congress has had difficulty crafting a bill of such challenging scope and complexity. I am hopeful that the President will remedy this problem in the coming weeks.

Currently in the Senate, two committees have jurisdiction over health care – the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Finance Committee. The HELP Committee has completed work on a health reform bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act. This bill aspires to significant reforms in the health insurance market, including provisions to prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. In the Finance Committee, negotiations continue on a reform package that might win support from both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate. The success of these ongoing negotiations will be critical in determining whether a bill can be achieved this year.

While most people are understandably satisfied with their health care, the system is not working for millions of American families. Spiraling costs for health care have placed our biggest industries at a severe competitive disadvantage, as employers struggle to provide insurance for their workers. By the same token, families are increasingly unable to depend on their health plans when they need them the most. This has contributed to the mortgage foreclosure crisis and the rise in personal bankruptcies. In short, our nation’s continued economic recovery would be advanced by meaningful health care reform, although such reform must emphatically be reasonable in scope, cost, and impact.

In the coming weeks and months, I encourage you to visit my website at www.webb.senate.gov for updated information about the healthcare reform debate. Additionally, the Senate Finance www.finance.senate.gov and HELP Committees www.help.senate.gov/index.html have posted on their websites useful information about their respective proposals.

Again, I thank you for your past correspondence on this issue. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with me and my staff.

Sincerely,

Jim Webb
United States Senator

JW: cc

I submit that he misses, or perhaps is covering, the most essential points. To my mind massive change is not required. The vast majority of those not covered at all are illegals and those who choose not to be covered. Even the insane and indigent are cared for already. The mortgage foreclosure crisis is due to extending loans to those unable to repay them in the first place.

As we approach Labor Day we find that we are more and more laboring for the government and not for our families. We are becoming enslaved by our government. I find it more than a little ironic that a great proponent of this enslavement is the first "black" President. I have little hope that he (or any Democrat) will ever listen to what I have to say. They show no sign of it. This is why we are frustrated.

Notes:
- The term "position of power" really irritates me. Why? Because these people we choose, ostensibly from among our friends and neighbors, are in those positions to represent us. We have an election to choose who we think will be most representative, most responsible in a position of responsibility. They aren't there to lord it over us, they aren't there to have power over us. They are there to serve. It is a position in which they should humbly work for us.
- "Macaca" was the term used by George Allen. Almost nobody I knew had ever heard the term/word prior to the brouha its off-hand use created. One can find any number of references on the subject.

Labels: Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 8:00 AM