Daniel P's Email to Representative Bill Pascrell

08/14/2009 04:32

As a member of the national grass roots movement BlowoutCongress.com, I wanted to take a brief moment and write to you with a few reminders about our nation, its citizens and the proper role of government, and I thank you in advance for your courtesy in giving me, an ordinary citizen, a moment of your time.

In 1787 a group of men descended upon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to draft the document that would become the Constitution of the United States. These gentleman embarked on a mission to create a form of government that would provide for the national defense, protect civil rights and to facilitate interstate trade. According to history, they did not envision the government of the United States as it is today -- a mega sized bureaucratic organization set forth to level the playing field for all citizens.  In truth, it was not their intent to create a government solely for the people, but a government of, by and for the people.

It has become clear to me, and many of my fellow citizens, that over the course of the last several decades the original intent of the founders seems to have been forgotten. For this reason, I am respectfully notifying you in writing that many U.S. citizens, often referred to as "the silent majority", have not forgotten their intent.

I'm sure you're aware as a sitting member of Congress that our nation was born by revolution against an over bearing, over reaching monarchy in 1776. This onerous condition cast extraordinary influence on the founding principles that make the form of government our nation has inherited. The group of men who labored over the drafting of our Constitution also knew that tenure breeds complacency and corruption; therefore they placed in that very document a set of rules to help combat this evil.  Election cycles held every two years for House members should insure a constant, ever changing supply of American DNA...sadly today it sometimes does not.  Six years for a Senate term should be more than sufficient for effective service.  In fact, service to this great country was never intended to be a full time job, let alone a career.  Shockingly, it was also not intended to be a means to wealth. This nation's founders knew that left unchecked, a new Congressional ruling class would be created in this country, the very evil that caused so many to shed their blood and give their lives to escape.

Tenure breeds complacency and corruption; with representatives such as yourself spending a vast majority of your time in Washington, D.C. and not in your districts the issue is greatly magnified.  How do I know?

 - National financial deficits estimated between $7 and $23 TRILLION dollars
 - Blatant Medicare / Medicaid fraud and abuse
 - Complete lack of a national energy policy
 - Congressional passage of extremely important bills without reading them first
 - Amendments and riders (having nothing to do with a bill) added to important legislation
 - Constant partisan bickering over minute details to try and gain advantage when both sides generally agree
 - A secretive Federal Reserve
 - A border so porous that people and drugs literally come across in waves
 - Government officials appointed to posts with more power than Cabinet Secretaries without the advice and consent of the Senate
 - Outlandish pork barrel projects
 - Side stepping controversial issues to create laws that are ineffective
 - Special rules for the privileged (Ways & Means Chairman cheating on taxes)
 - The allowance of overreaching government bureaucracies that continue to grow so large that they are ineffective but totally immune to organizational change

Trashing our Constitution!

 
There is the perception outside Washington that many of our nations "leaders" are not in touch with the real America; that special interests have entirely too much sway over lawmakers.  It seems to me that the best way to remedy the problem would be to elect a new generation of Americans to represent us, ones that will spend more time in their districts, not at lavish parties in our nation's capital.  How about a group of dedicated individuals who are not looking for photo ops or trying to give long winded speeches on C-SPAN hoping to get a few seconds of air time on the nightly news; but a group of citizens willing to do the hard work to make a difference for their fellow Americans, before returning to their homes and families after several terms.  Being a member of Congress for 20, 30 or 40 years was never the intent of the nation's founders.

Thank you for your time, as well as your service to this great nation. However, it is time for a fresh start for the United States with the next generation of leaders. I will leave you with this thought; the political power in this country was originally intended to be in the hands of the electorate, not the elected..."We the People" intend to take it back.