letter to Walt Minnick

Dear Mr. Minnick,

As a member of your district who voted for Bill Sali, I wish to acknowledge the great work you have done in the U.S. House of Representatives. In spite of the “D” next to your name, you have listened to the people of Idaho, and haven't gone along with the crowd in Washington. I want to thank you for the good judgment you have exhibited in voting against Timothy Geithner, the Stimulus Bill, the Omnibus Bill, the Pay for Performance Bill, and the latest costly budget. You seem to be one of the very few who is actually interested in bipartisanship, and I wish you well in your efforts.

I was gratified to see the national press coverage you received on Fox News regarding your work with Representative Aaron Schock on a bill for a tax holiday for small businesses. A friend of mine who is a small business owner believes that it would free up some capitol and allow their business to hire one additional employee. We would like to see more of this type of legislation, urging you to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible.

While I applaud your efforts, I am gravely concerned about the future of the United States of America. Though we decry America's history of slavery, and rejoice in the triumph of civil rights, we are selling our children and grandchildren into a new kind of slavery, one in which they will be in bondage to U.S. Government, forced to pay for the mistakes of this generation. I watch with apprehension as our leaders use our tax dollars to bail out failing companies, buy bad mortgages, take over banks, increase spending on a failing public education system; while at the same time hurting the economy with proposed cap and trade laws, renewing the estate tax, enforcing expensive testing for children's products from books to bicycles, and reducing incentives for charitable giving.

What bothers me the most, is that in spite of poll numbers which indicate that most Americans are not in favor of increasing our national debt to fund liberal causes, the current administration headed by Obama, Pelosi and Reid either fails to acknowledge the will of the people, or attempts to suppress opposing opinions. Not only are they disregarding the will of the people, they are overriding the Constitution itself--confiscating bonuses, firing employees, taking over companies, etc. I have often heard people say that “Americans cannot sit back and watch our freedoms be sold to the highest bidder.” But I don't believe that Americans are sitting back—they are joining tea parties, writing or phoning their congressmen, signing petitions, blogging—but they are being ignored by those with the power to legislate—using “reconciliation” tactics to speed up the passing of a badly written bill; and by the those with power to veto bad legislation—evidenced by President Obama's signing of the Omnibus bill in spite of all of its earmarks, and in spite of many campaign promises. I feel that my individual opinion should count for something in this democracy. I hate to think that not only is my opinion not valued, my right to free speech is becoming devalued.

For the sake of my family, friends, and community, and for the future of the United States, I plead with you to do all you can to preserve our liberties, to stop oppressive spending, and to continue to listen to your constituents.