Hey Daily Kos. Long time listener, first time diarist. First thing, thanks for the wonderful community. I love to visit when I can.
I want to take better advantage of the opportunities this wonderful community offers, especially the New Diarists group and the other policy driven groups like Climate Hawks, but alas. There is not enough time for me right now to even read and comment regularly.
Regardless, I have something to share with you. I read Wednesday night that my representative, Virginia Foxx (R) will be one of the 18 representatives to meet along with House leadership at the White House on Thursday.
I decided that it was my duty to give her some "encouragement" to do the right thing.
I decided that the best way to do that was to be nice and not say any of the nasty things I really felt. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I decided that a position based in reality and logic can convince a conservative.
I also decided, after I wrote it, that I wanted to share my thoughts with my good friends here at Daily Kos. Unfortunately, I am unable to hang around and participate in the comments at the time this will be posting, but I will read and reply to any of you good folks over an extended period, so please be patient if you are interested in a dialogue.
Please follow me below the fold and ask yourself: "What is the best way to get what I want?"
A Peony, from this spring. The bushes were dug up this summer, by the College grounds crew.
Subject: Be a responsible adult, Representative Foxx
[I know, it is a bit snippy, but hey]
I am very concerned with the path that your tea party colleagues have chosen to try to accomplish their goals, namely the attempt to hold the country over a barrel to try to negotiate a defunding of the Obamacare health reform law. The funding of government and the credit of the country are not the proper vehicles for major policy debates. I am sure that by now you have realized that this childish behavior has not been popular with the American public (except for a small contingent of extremely conservative voters).
The threat of default is so great from an approach to the mandated limit of borrowing that hundreds of millions of dollars have already been wasted in increased spending on debt service. This increase is due to the downgrade of US debt form the showdown over the debt limit in the summer of 2011. Nobody wants the government to spend more money on interest payments than we have to. That is the fiscally responsible position.
Businesses belonging to the Chamber of Commerce and American families across your district have surely advised you that this extremism does not reflect well upon conservatism as a governing philosophy.
Your enabling of these vocal minority of representatives in your conference is doing real damage to the conservative movement and to the electoral chances of Republicans who believe in fiscally responsible, properly restrained governance. I am calling on you to be a true representative of the best interests for the voters in your district.
The best course of action for the House Republican conference is to pass a continuing resolution for funding the government long enough to complete conference with the Senate. Every day the government shutdown continues and the debt limit approaches the more pain the voters in your district feel.
The MOST conservative of them I have spoken with believe that both parties are at fault. Everyone else blames the Republicans. The more pain these voters experience now, the easier it becomes to bring them angry to the voting booth next year. I will be living in your district next year. I will be working actively to defeat you and send a strong progressive candidate to the House in your place. You may have $100k checks from for profit education companies, but I will have a lot of free time next summer and fall. Do yourself a favor and make my job harder next year. There are plenty of folks in these neighborhoods to hassle into showing up at the polls. The more they remember this shutdown the less likely they are going to want to let you stay around. Think about it.