Before Congress passed the Healthcare Reform Bill last year, I was trying my best to keep up with the heated debates going on in Washington. I am a busy stay at home mother of two school aged children, so I don't have all day to research the facts and figures that the bill entailed. I watch the news on a regular basis, read the newspaper, read my share of news sites online as well as a few blogs when I get the chance. I wanted to know as much as I could about what was about to be voted on, and I wanted to make sure I took the time to write my congressman and either support the bill or not. Isn't my congressman supposed to be listening to what we the voters want and taking it into account before he heads of and votes of life changing legislation?
So, I did my due diligence and I made my own personal decision on how I felt about the healthcare bill. It wasn't perfect or even close to it. However, I thought that maybe there was enough good stuff in there that would make it worth passing. I'm one of those people who can't just go out and get healthcare on my own because I have a good old preexisting condition. It isn't anything life threatening or even anything that I am getting treatment for at the moment. It is simply something that is more of an annoyance and it is on my medical record. So, when I call any health insurance company they can turn me down for medical insurance and that is the end of it. If I don't get medical insurance with a group through my husband’s job then that's it... I'm simply out of luck. Now here was a new healthcare bill that that made it mandatory for insurance companies to cover everyone, even with preexisting conditions. I felt this is important enough for me to back to help not only myself, but people who were in even worse medical situations. It could save lives. So, I wanted to let my congressman, Mr. Tom Rooney, know I wanted him to support it.
I was not expecting he would listen to just me. He has plenty of constituents here in his district who don't feel like I do. That's fine with me. He needs to do his job, but I wanted to make sure I put in my two cents. Isn't that what you do in America? If you want to be heard, you write your congressman a letter. And now in the age of some of the greatest technology, it is easier than ever. All you have to do is go online, put in your address and the name and contact information comes up for your congressman. It was as simple as that. And, even better, you can just push the link and you can email him from right there. Instant access and it is as easy as can be. So, I sent Congressman Rooney a letter.
The letter wasn't very long, as a matter of fact it was pretty short and too the point. I told him I was in his district and I knew this vote was coming up and I just wanted it to be known I was for the bill passing. I hit send, and off it went to Washington. How much easier could it get? I didn't need an envelope or a stamp! It didn't take days to get there - simply a matter of seconds. I felt like I had done what I was supposed to do. I made an informed decision, and maybe, just maybe someone might read it and make note that someone here in Florida was for the bill. That's all. I didn't expect anything else.
Well, a few hours later I was really excited and surprised to receive an email back from the congressman's office. I didn't think anyone would write me back, so I was excited to know my email was received and my voice was heard. Then I opened the response and read it. It thanked me for my letter to the congressman concerning the healthcare bill. It said he knew I was against the healthcare bill and was aware that this bill was a mistake and he was going to fight it for me! I'm sure my jaw hit the floor. Again, I didn't ever expect a response, but now that I got one back I was furious. I am sure Congressman Rooney, has secretaries and interns that sort and read the mail and have blanket responses they send out. But wait! Did they even read what I wrote? Or did they just see that the subject line read healthcare bill and they just assumed it was another letter against it and added my letter to the tally of people against the bill? And, if that was the case had they done the same to other people's letters as well?
I was so distraught that I even wrote took the time to research this and write to him. I didn't feel like I had been heard, I felt like I had been duped. I really didn't feel any sense of satisfaction from writing my congressman, actually I felt more like I had wasted my time and for what? Is that what most people feel like? Like government is so big, and overwhelming they will never be heard?
I gave up, at least for a while. I didn't bother to write another letter again until a month ago when our government almost shut down because all they could do in Washington was fight each other. They were almost willing to let everything come to a screeching halt, and again make the people of the country suffer because they could not do their jobs. I got online and started writing again. Repeatedly. Just short notes, to Obama, to John Boehner and anyone else I thought might be involved in this mess. Did it help? I'm not so sure it did, but I'm not giving up! I have two children who I am responsible for. I do not want to leave them with this mess of a country to clean up because I didn't take the time or effort to try. Are you willing to hand your children this mess, because we didn't do anything because we didn't know WHAT to do? Let's do something because...
“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better." - Pauline R. Kezer