I thought I'd share the letters I sent today:
To Rob Wittman, VA-1:
I'm disappointed that you voted against stimulating the economy. Economic stimulus in important to avoid a situation that could, as President Bush feared, be "worse than the great depression". Dollar for dollar, the tax cuts you favor are very poor stimulus compared to things like covering operating shortfalls for mass transit. See http://www.nytimes.com/... -- My sister depends on the bus for transportation to work in St. Louis. If Bi-State cuts her route, she would lose her job.
Read Bush's statement below, and explain how what you have done helped avoid a "depression [that] could be greater than the Great Depression"
[More below]
"Now, obviously these are very difficult economic times. When people analyze the situation, there will be -- this problem started before my presidency, it obviously took place during my presidency. The question facing a President is not when the problem started, but what did you do about it when you recognized the problem. And I readily concede I chunked aside some of my free market principles when I was told by [my] chief economic advisors that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression.
"So I've told some of my friends who said -- you know, who have taken an ideological position on this issue -- why did you do what you did? I said, well, if you were sitting there and heard that the depression could be greater than the Great Depression, I hope you would act too, which I did. And we've taken extraordinary measures to deal with the frozen credit markets, which have affected the economy." -- George Bush, 12 Jan 2009
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Yesterday's letter to Mark Warner and Jim Webb:
The republican amendments to the stimulus bill are bad stimulus--Tax cuts are slow and ineffective means for providing economic stimulus, especially compared to the items that the House tossed out to aid "bipartisan compromise". McCain's advisor Mark Zandi showed that if you are trying to do stimulus, that the programs that put money into the hands of the poor people on the edge are the most effective, because they have a much higher GDP multiplier than other forms.
Support Obama's stimulus plan. Oppose the Republican amendments, and if you have a chance, push stimulus money into things like food stamps, health care for kids, and bailout for states and local governments--things that get money moving quickly, like a stimulus should.
The republican arguments for tax cuts as stimulus is dishonest and dangerous.
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The letters I sent to Mark Warner and Jim Webb today:
States and localities are eliminating bus routes and reducing runs, which in turn will eliminate the jobs of the people who ride mass transit to work.
A well-planned stimulus package would include operating funds for depressed mass transit systems and save those jobs, rather than relatively ineffective tax cuts.
To heck with the republican tax cut priorities -- get out there and show why spending is necessary and Mark Zandi's chart about how some spending is more effective than others.
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I'm not sure how to strike the right balance between length and just making sure they get enough letters to know what their constituents are thinking.
Project Vote Smart is a great way to keep track of how to contadct your reps and what they do.