This is my first ever diary here at Daily Kos. I am not one who is often motivated to put my thoughts down into words, but as I have been reading about some of the possible deals that may be legislated to avert the Republican-created debt-ceiling "crisis" I felt that I had to do something. So after the fold is the e-mail that I sent to every Democratic organization that I could think of. It may not be the most cogently written message ever created, but I hope it conveys my emotions and reasoning about this issue. You may agree or disagree with my reactions as you will, but I thank you in advance for reading.
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to all of the Democratic Organizations (the DCCC, the DSCC and the DNC) as well as individual Democrats (both of my senators and the the White House -- luckily I don't have to write my congressman directly because I know where he stands on this issue). I am not normally moved to write, and never before to so many organizations about a single issue, but I feel now that I have to add my voice, in the hopes that someone in Washington will actually listen.
If you let the government cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicade in any form -- such as raising eligibility ages, changing cost-of-living calculations or shifting the burden to the states (I live in Ohio: there's no way that my state will replace any lost funds which they don't receive from the Federal government, they will just slash services), then you will have lost my support in perpetuity. Let me say this once and clearly; by cutting these vital services, that I have been paying into my whole life, you are effectively stealing from me (and the rest of Americans).
I don't mind paying taxes, I feel that government services are indispensable. Public Schools, Police Departments, Fire Departments, the EPA (clean air and water are nice things) functioning infrastructure (even if it barely functions any more, just ask ASCE) and all the other things that the government does for us are good things, and I don't mind paying my fair share to help defray the cost of those services. I like that the government runs those programs nationally, without bias, and without trying to squeeze the populace for a profit on goods and services that are basically essential. Anyone who argues that private industry could do better is flat-out wrong. Just look at the state of private health insurance compared to the VA, Medicare or Medicade. I think the government usually does a decent job of handling these things, except when they are run dishonestly or in an intentionally incompetent manner (such as we are seeing most visibly in Wisconsin, even though it is happening in many other states.) But when I read that the government was thinking of looting from those services that help most every American and that nearly every American has payed into, I couldn't believe it. I have been paying into these programs since I was 18, which in my case is only 16 years, but the entire time I was under the belief that that was money that I would receive later in life as recompense for a lifetime of hard work. Instead I hear that because we have fought 2 or 3 unpaid wars (depending on how you count the action in Libya), because we couldn't ask the exceptionally wealthy to help pay their fair share (and instead extended the Bush tax cuts), because we had to bail-out the "too-big-to-fail" banks that caused the financial crisis (and continue to run amok with fraudulent foreclosures and myriad other questionable to outright illegal practices) that we are now too deeply in debt to honor our agreements with the citizens who have been diligently working and paying taxes their whole lives under the belief that they would see some benefit from that money when it came to retire.
So now if those services are cut, I will have to work longer and harder just to get back to where I am right now. Any free time I may have or any free money that I may have must be re-invested towards my retirement just to hopefully make up the shortfall that you are now creating in my personal retirement calculations (as well as for every other American who will depend on these services at one point in their lives.) By stealing that money that I was counting on so that the Tea Party Republicans can continue to bleed us white in the interests of multinational corporations and the maintenance of the wealth of the top 1% of earners, you have just made an in-kind contribution from me to them. So now, every day that I have to work just a little bit harder, and just a little bit longer just to break even; I will think of the party that let this happen. These cuts will affect me for the rest of my life. And I will never forget who allowed them to happen, for the rest of my life.
Attempting to blame Republicans for not compromising or trying to use the deficit "crisis" as a dodge will hold no water with me. Social Security, Medicare and Medicade did not cause this deficit issue. A lack of revenue did. And since the Democrats control the White House and the Senate, (which, by my count are 2 of the 3 legislative groups that are responsible for creating laws and policy) the blame for any cuts enacted can not be placed anywhere but squarely upon them. If these cuts happen it will be because, in my opinion, the Democratic Party is either too incompetent to fight for the people and against the Republicans, or they just don't care that they are damaging the well-being of nearly every American. Whichever case it is doesn't matter, because a party that is ineffective to the point of incompetence in fighting for the people is equally as bad as a party which doesn't care about the people and nearly as bad as the party which actively works to exploit the people for profit.
In years past, as well as this year I have donated my time and money to various Democratic candidates and organizations. But should you fail on this issue, I will not forgive and I will not forget. You will have lost my vote, my time as a volunteer and my donated money forever. If I have to, I will "Nader" democratic candidates and vote for 3rd parties from now on, because I'd rather have my vote be "wasted" than help those who either are woefully ineffective or won't bother to represent their constituents or the American People in general.
I realize that this is a long e-mail, and if you don't have the time to read the whole thing, than let me provide the important bit in a small one-sentence summary: If you pass any kind of deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicade, in any shape or from, you are stealing from the people, and you will have lost my donations, my time as a volunteer and my vote for the rest of my life.
Thank you for your time, and I hope you continue to fight for what's best for every American and not only those with the money to hire lobbyists.
GeorgeXVIII (I used my real name in the e-mail, but I don't feel like making it public on the internet)
Cleveland, Ohio
And yes, you may disagree with my threat to withhold my vote from Democratic candidates due the the nature of our effectively two-party system. I'm torn on that as well, because the Republicans with their Tea Party puppets and corporate masters are sooooo terrible for the country. But I think the Democratic organizations need to realize that is a possibility that any deal on these services could cost them votes for a generation, so I didn't soften my language in the email to reflect that.