Dear Senators Feinstein and Boxer, Congresswoman Sanchez and President Obama,
I just learned today that more waste within our government is happening and no real apparent reason for it or justification!
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is flying at TAXPAYER expense their entire staff to Maui, Hawaii! Why?
Where is the reasoning, checks and balances, and if it's the committee meeting why is it imperative that "staff" tag along at taxpayer expense?
And why arrive days before the Wednesday, August 17, 2011 hearing? And why is it necessary to not only fly staff to Maui days before hand, but why are they not holding these hearings in DC?
It's unbelievable that Hill staffers are talking about fiscal responsibility would waste money on a trip to Maui.
It's outrageous that Senate Democrats have so little respect for the American taxpayer that in the same month they buried our credit rating,
they're heading to Hawaii to celebrate!
Then we have the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent or 120,000 jobs and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.
Seems to me again more mismanagement, too high a wage, and too costly a benefits program, and if you had wanted to shave costs, here is yet another government agency failing badly and what has been done to repair it?
And how does a civil service worker be a member of a union too? This never happened when I worked civil service!
Instead of cutting jobs, give them the option of a 25% reduction in pay, and ban the unions, offer a PPO or HMO and 50/50 the costs of the healthcare plan. Thus possibly saving 120,000 jobs!
Then the Obama administration has demonstrated that it cares more for people who enter our country illegally and take jobs away from American citizens than it does for our own people.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced that nearly $9M of taxpayer money will be used to help fund New Access Point programs targeting services to migrant farm workers, regardless of their immigration status. Health Resources and Services Administration
spokeswoman Judy Andrews announced that the grant recipients will not check immigration status on people seeking services.
In other words, the working class and poor are paying for free health care for illegal aliens while many Americans still cannot afford health care of their own.
Then a federal appeals court has struck down the requirement in President Obama's health care overhaul package that virtually all Americans must carry health insurance or face penalties, when the entire bill should be scrapped! It's nothing more than hidden taxes!
Even more angering was the fact that then House Speaker, Congresswoman Pelosi said lets just pass it we can read it later!
Again and again the working class and poor are asked, no they're forced by Congress to cut and cut and cut, yet we do not ever see Congress cutting back, taking pay cuts, benefit cuts, in fact we saw 20 staffers of the White House be awarded more than $620,000 in massive pay raises from 17-86% and who will be responsible for meeting these astronomical salaries? The working class and poor!
What most Americans would like, agree to and expect are as follows:
- No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
- Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
- Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
- Congress will no longer vote for themselves, a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
- Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
- Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
- All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
I'd truly like to know what your thoughts are on these issues and point so that I'm able to go back to 500k Veterans and let them know!
Respectfully,
Jim Davis
Founder & CEO, Veterans-For-Change, son of US Marine (Ret)