Crossposted from Central PA's Little Blog Blue
This Associated Press article came out today about Sen. Sentorum (R-VA):
The state Department of Education will hold a hearing to determine whether U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum must repay a school district for tuition it spent on a cyber charter school for five of his children.
Santorum, R-Pa., withdrew his children from the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School after officials in the Penn Hills School District questioned why they were paying to educate Santorum's children at the school. School officials estimated they spent about $100,000 on tuition for the senator's children since 2001, even though they spend most of the year in Santorum's Virginia home.
This is a perfect opportunity for us to keep this issue alive in the minds of Pennsylvania voters. I strongly encourage all Pennsylvanians to write a letter to the editor about this issue. Santorum cost the hard working taxpayers of Pennsylvania 100,000 dollars, and we need to make sure his chicanery costs him at least 100,000 votes.
When this story first broke, this was my letter to the editor published on November 26, 2004 in the
Patriot News :
Rick Santorum was first elected to Congress largely because he made a big issue out of his opponent living in the Virginia suburbs of the District of Coumbia rather than in Pennsylvania.
But after Santorum was elected to the Senate, he promptly moved his family out of our state to become a full-time resident of those very same Virginia suburbs. He then bought a house in Penn Hills so that he could technically fulfill the residency requirement needed to represent Pennsylvania.
But he claimed a homestead exemption on the Penn Hills house, which should only be available to a person if their home is their permanent residence. He then got almost $100,000 in tuition from the Penn Hills School District for a cyberschool by claiming that his children were district residents. And now his spokesperson asserts that the Santorums split their time between their $757,000 house in Virginia and the one in Penn Hills, which is actually being inhabited by another couple.
If Rick Santorum thinks that the hard-working taxpayers of Pennsylvania are going to believe that he, his wife, and their five children are sharing a two-bedroom house in Penn Hills with two other people, he isn't just out of state and out of touch, he is also out of his mind.
(Fact check: Since I wrote that letter, I have learned that the Penn Hills house is actually inhabited by 3 people: Santorum's cousin, the cousin's spouse, and their baby. Also, Santorum no longer asserts that he splits time between the two houses, he now claims to use it mainly during the holidays.)
Possible Angles
In case you need inspiration for your letter, here are some snippets to get you started. (Not to be used verbatim, just as jumping off points...)
We don't need a hearing to decide whether Rick Santorum should repay nearly $100,000 in tution paid by a Pennsylvania school district while he and his family were living full-time in Virginia. There's no question that he should.
Why would Rick Santorum burden the hard working taxpayers of Pennsylvania with $100,000 for his children's cyberschool tution when he and his family are full-time residents of Virginia?
Obviously, bilking Pennsylvania taxpayers out of $100,000 isn't as serious as the crimes committed by Tom Druce. However, the only conclusion I can draw is that like Mr. Druce, Rick Santorum is a politician who believes that laws don't apply to him.
How can Rick Santorum think he is entitled to have Pennsyvlanians pay for his children's cyberschool tuition when he lives in Virginia?
Let me get this straight. Pennsylvania isn't good enough for Rick Santorum - he moved his family to the Northern Virginia suburbs. Public and parochial schools aren't good enough for Rick Santorum - he keeps his children at home in a "cyberschool". But Pennsylvania tax dollars are plenty good enough for Rick Santorum. Not only does he collect a big check every week for being a Senator, he also has collected almost $100,000 from a Pennsylvania school district to school his children in his $757,000 Virginia home.
Remember, use language to frame the issue! (i.e. "Santorum burdens hard-working Pennsylvania taxpayers.")
Writing Tips via Blog for America
- Be Clear and Concise: Keep your letters brief, concise, and to the point. Check the letter guidelines in your local paper--most newspapers will not run letters that are longer than 200-250 words.
- State Your Point Early: Be sure to state your main point in the subject line and in the first sentence of the letter.
- Get Local: Any local angle will increase the impact of your letter and increase its chances for publication.
- Smaller is Better: The bigger the circulation of the publication to which you are submitting, the more competition you face in having your letter selected. In general, small newspapers are more likely to print your letter.
- Include Your Contact Information: Most newspapers will only print a letter to the editor after calling the author to verify his or her identity and address.
Writing a letter to the editor is probably the most important thing you can do on February 10, 2005 to defeat Rick Santorum on November 7, 2006.