This morning I got a fancy, glossy, full color "survey" on heavy card stock from Congressman Steve King (R-IA) prominently titled "2010 ISSUE SURVEY & CONTACT INFORMATION."
The pretty, snowy Iowa farm scene on the front, above the perforation, was heartwarming enough, even though it was besmirched with our illustrious Congressman's official mugshot in the upper-right hand corner. King's graven image took a lot of the shine off (and warmth out of)the reminder of honest constituent outreach and effective representation, but was inoffensive compared to the disclaimer situated under the return address:
PUBLIC DOCUMENT.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
This mailing was prepared, published
and mailed at taxpayer expense.
I thought it, and my responses, were worth sharing below the fold.
Despite my displeasure at learning that Steve Fricking King, and not Leonard Boswell (as I'd mistakenly believed since moving here a couple of years ago) was my US Rep, I was raised to do my civic duty and participate when asked. Apparently, in my haste to vote a straight Democratic Party Ticket, in a heavily GOP Southern Iowa County in 08, I had neglected to look at the opposition, or even the Democratic Field.
After a cursory glance, and a futile attempt to just be happy that Lou Dobb's former staffers had found new work devising "polls," I began to answer his "survey questions" as best I could.
What follows is the "survey," and my answers in italics.
On a 1-6 scale, please rank these issues in order of importance to you, with 1 being the most important and 6 being the least important:
_ Ensuring access to affordable healthcare
_ Controlling federal spending and the federal deficit
_ Ending illegal immigration
_ Bringing down unemployment
_ Attempting to halt global warming through caps on carbon
emissions
_ Guaranteeing the safety of the American people and the security
of our nation
So far, so good. Not only did these questions seem somewhat fair for a wingnut Congressman from a conservative district, they seemed to tacitly acknowledge the existence of global warming and a need for access to health care.
I was, admittedly, a bit confused by whether I was to rank each issue individually 1-6, allowing multiple Ones or Twos or Sixes, of if the ranking was sacred and could be used only once. Out of fear my vote would be tossed faster than an ACORN voter registration card in King's office, and knowing that "RANK" is is always the operative word in King's case, I went the sacred # route.
I'll let you use your imagination how I ranked them, but rest assured, they are probably not going to end up being cited on the House Floor during One Minute Speeches.
Now comes the Faux News/Dobbsian "survey" questions with an opportunity to comment. Which I did and put in italics below:
Do you think a "public option," government-run health insurance system will eventually lead to socialized healthcare in the U.S.?
_Yes __(X)No
Why? _(Because this is a strawman argument advanced by right wing kooks like Rep. Steve King.)
Do you think the government should tell Americans what kinds of health insurance they can and can't have?
_(X)Yes __No
Why?_(Because I trust honest public servants more than Big Health/Pharma corporations or jingoistic Congressmen.)
Do you think terrorists being held at Guantanamo should be brought to the U.S., given Constitutional rights, and given access to our nation's court system?
(X)Yes _ No
Why?_(Try them just like Bush/Cheney did with terrorists successfully. I trust our system and "terrorists" win when we give them recruiting tools like torture and dismiss our own system as "inadequate.")
Do you think government regulation of America's carbon emissions will weaken the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers abroad?
_Yes __(X)NO
Why?__(Because coupled with a "Hot Air and Froth" Tax on U.S. Reps like King and Michelle Bachmann,we'll not only survive climate change costs, but have a better overall environment.)
Do you support the passage of a second federal "stimulus" bill to try to curb unemployment?
_(X)Yes __No
Why?_(1st one was too small, corporate-friendly, and watered down in effort to appease GOP obstructionists.)_
Is America's national security tied to ensuring Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups can't use Afghanistan as a base toplan future terrorist attacks?
_(X) Yes __No
Why?_(Yes, in the same way it's linked to giving potential extremist recruits an alternative to jihad, and not letting them win by creating bunker mentality, and exploiting fear for your crass political purposes at home.)
What other messages do you want to send to Washington? _(Rep. Steve King is an embarrassment to most Iowans, And if we have to lose a Congressional District in Iowa, we pray it's his, like it may be his pal Bachmann's in MN. Also, he's abusing franking privileges with this thinly disguised campaign piece, and THANK GOD FOR TOM HARKIN!)
I had to write real small, and I also had to spring for a postage stamp that he or his campaign did not have to pay for.
Thankfully, that God-Awful government-run Postal System he despises so much and uses as an example of incompetence will be delivering it within a day or so.
(h/t to jpmassar for the linky to "franking" definition.)