LETTER TO SENS. SCHUMER AND CLINTON

Dear Senators Schumer and Clinton,

As a constituent of yours, I have a few questions for you:

Why are you supporting the fillibuster of John Bolton, the man credited with getting the U.N. to reverse the "Zionism equals racism" resolution, and keeping him from being our next U.N. ambassador?

Why are you blocking private retirement accounts for middle class people like me, and especially for the lower paid workers?

Why do you support the status quo of spending the Social Security surplus as if it's general tax revenue?

Why were you silent regarding Sen. Durbin's degrading comments about our military, likening them to the that of the worst regimes in modern times?


I was born and raised in Manhattan, and moved to L.I. in my teens. I served in the U.S.M.C. from '81 - '85, and have lived on L.I. since. I feel that neither of you is representing me, or my ideas, in the Senate. As a native New Yorker, I am frankly apalled. Both of you speak about the need to hear "minority" opinions, and yet you trample the progressive conservatives in your own constituency. Some of us have seen the failure of "liberal" programs first hand, and are willing to try something new. I cite welfare reform as an example: neither of you supported it, but it was successful. I thought I was done with the questions, but "will you support reauthorizing it?"

Please break out of the partisan box, and start to represent all of your constituents. I call myself a "progressive conservative" for a reason. I want what's best for this country, even if it's tough medecine to take. I believe in the people, and their individual striving for a better life. I do not believe that the government can give it to them. What government can do is to make sure that abuses don't take place in the "ordered chaos" of the free market.

This is different from such overreaching regulations as rent control, or on the health care system, and FDA regulations on medications. Nowhere is this more evident than in our home city of N.Y, where a different real estate system exsists than anywhere else in the country, as well as a black hole of wasted medical expenses, with little benefit to anyone who pays taxes in this state.

I am writing to you in the hope that you will not see my opinions as "partisan," though they may sound like someone's "right wing talking points." I agree with both of you on many issues, though moderately. My point is to get the public motivated as self-starters, and to wean them off dependence on government assistance. We, as a nation, have unlimited potential, and we are going to need it soon, if things really turn for the worse (as opposed to your claims that it already has). I am proud of what Pres. Bush has done to bring us back to the level of prosperity we enjoy currently, while both of you seem to be denying his accomplishments, and fighting against what appears to be steady economic progress.


P.S: If the recent Supreme Court ruling against the poor and middle income property owners didn't make you wish for Janice Rogers Brown to be on the Supreme Court, you are not representing the rights of the person, whether poor or middle class, but the imperial power of the state, in a perverse collusion with big business. Both of you can do better.