I wrote a number of emails, faxes and so on to my representative, Congressman George Radanovich, of California stating my opposition to the Wall Street Bailout plan that was voted on Sept. 29, 2008.
He voted Yes
Finally, he replied with the often quoted dribble about this plan not being perfect, but the best there was. Along with the following sentence:
Rest assured, I will continue negotiations with my colleagues in crafting an economic recovery package that ensures the most taxpayer protection and is able to be signed into law.
I decided to write him the following
Dear Congressman Radanovich,
My story.
When I was a young father I made a decision that would effect the rest of my life, some say for good, others say for bad. My wife and I decided that in order to raise our children, my wife would be a stay-at-home mom. I was a Printing Pressman, a lower rung blue collar worker. I’ve never made more than $40,000 in a year and it’s been 10 years since I made more than $32,000. Because of this decision, we were never able to buy our own home and we’ve rented for 34 years of marriage. We felt that we could have a better home (figuratively and physically) by renting then by buying. We never had much choice anyway as we were never financially qualified to buy a home (at least when WE looked at our budget, choosing NO, to listening to some mortgage broker or Real Estate agent).
So, now that our children are active law abiding adults and contributors to society, we are finally able to consider purchasing a home, but unfortunately the prices of home ownership over the last decade outpaced inflation by many many times. So for me the R.E. bubble was a BAD THING. It’s been the “bursting” of the bubble that I’ve looked at with Joy. I’ve been planing my strategy for over 2 years now, I knew where we were headed. I’m still waiting for the right time, it’s not here yet. The burst has brought the prices of homes nearly to the point of fiscally responsible reality, however there is still a ways to go down before R.E. is where it should be in relationship to income levels.
So why would you want to artificially inflate those prices again? Simply for the tax coffers? That is bad representation and you should be fired for that action.
There is nothing in your job description that says you have to craft an economic recovery package. Why do you think there is? Let me ask you, Are you pleased with what it is you do as a Congressman? Do you feel that you are actually doing good for the American people? You spend all your time spending money that isn’t yours.
This government is out of control and you don’t even know it. The fact that you would even consider another version of the package proves that you don’t have a clue as to what is going on in this country. Let me state my opinion again in no uncertain terms. LET IT (the economy as it now stands) FAIL on it’s own. Don’t you realize that smart people have placed their whole life on the line simply by what they have educatedly understood as to what the economy is doing?
Do you think that there are only those who will be hurt by the “downturn”. There are plenty who will be hurt by a fabricated fix. Those of us who use our brains to see that there are major flaws in a system are going to be punished for being bright and using good judgement while those who are greedy and possibly criminal will profit. This is totally screwed up and you are a part of it.
I trust that you will look deep into what it is you feel your job is and that you come to your senses and realize that the American Dream is not home ownership, but LIFE LIBERTY and the Pursuit of happiness. Let us, the people, pursue our dreams based on the facts we can judge with our brains. When you change the rules of the game in the middle of the game, you ruin the game for everyone who played by the rules. Those who broke the rules should be penalized for their actions.
Thank you for listening to my rant. By the way, I never want a handout from the government. That’s not what my government is for. Their job is simply to preserve my liberty. I can’t believe that we’ve become a nation that thinks the government must fix every little problem that comes up in society. Why can’t we, the people, fix our own messes. Just protect us from losing our freedom and I’ll be satisfied with your performance. The most sure fire way to cause a loss of freedom is to tax me beyond my means, and when you add any tax to the burden of America it trickles down to every one whether they pay a lot of tax or none at all, because we will pay through higher prices.