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I have spent much of this week lobbying my representatives in Congress to vote against the proposed bailout legislation. If this issue is of importance to you, then please call your Congressional representative this morning and weigh in.
The blogosphere is game-changing medium for our democracy and its impact will only grow. However, on the eve of an unprecedented Congressional vote on a $700 billion bailout bill, our Congressional representatives were not reading blogs. A day after the Senate loaded a revised bill with $150 billion of enticements to change the votes of House members, our Congressional representatives were not reading blogs. And regardless of whether one blogged about a sky which is falling or a ground which is shaking, our Congressional representatives were not reading blogs.
They are counting however. In the cloakroom, votes; in their offices, phone calls. So call. They work for you. Tell them what you want, not what you think you can get.
I watched the VP debate earlier and was put off by the sense of alarm expressed by Governor Palin and Senator Biden as they bandied their respective ticket's budgetary excesses back-and-forth: "$10 billion per month.." or "$1.5 billion on.." or "a $1 trillion increase over four years.." Put off by their avoiding any debate on the merits of the Senate's record-breaking passage a $700 billion bailout to shareholders of private sector corporations and a $150 billion bribe to swing votes in the House today.
To hell with talk of a pig with lipstick; there was an 850 billion dollar pink elephant in that auditorium in St. Louis which neither Gov. Palin nor Sen. Biden had any interest in discussing before the American public. An 850 billion dollar pink elephant which was crafted over the span of eight days. In just eight days Senators Biden, McCain and Obama have voted to spend more on a bailout than has been spent on the "war" in Iraq over the past seven years. Anyone remember the certainty and resolve with which the Congress rushed to judgment about Iraq? Over eight days, Congress has made a risk assessment which necessitates a $700 billion subsidy plus a $150 billion tip. In the context of what happened in the Senate, I'm not particularly fired up by fist-pounding over, what, a trifling $40 billion in tax break to oil companies over the past eight years?
I have called and emailed my Representative in NC, David Price, twice (Monday and Thursday.) He voted in favor of the bill last Monday. I called and emailed NC's US Senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr on Wednesday. Senator Dole voted against the bailout; Senator Burr voted for its passage. Wednesday evening, Sen. Dole's challenger, Democrat State Senator Kay Hagan (who defeated me in the May primary)announced that she would have voted against passage.
At the end of the day, however, what really matters is how you feel, what do you want? Your voice counts as much as anyone's. "The highest office in America", said Harry Truman, "is that of citizen."
Call your Representative and tell them. Trust me: they're counting those calls.
Below is the email which I sent to Representative Price echoing my opposition to the bailout bill.
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