Fan Mail for Congressman Burgess

In the latest issue of The News Connection, writer and columnist Stephen Webster has an op-ed entitled "An Open Letter to Congressman Michael C. Burgess." Mr. Webster, it seems, has a few issues with his representative, and it's personal.

Our workers - MY friends - who toil away hours upon hours, have lost their overtime pay protections, and you helped that happen. Our military reservists and National Guard members, nearly 40 percent of whom do not have health care, really needed that expansion of TRICARE, but you did not see fit to give it to them. And what was with that vote to cut federal student aid by $12.6 BILLION? One of my own siblings was thrown off the Pell Grant fund because of that. Not to make things personal, but family is family.

Looking over your list of contributors, one cannot help but wonder what it is like to enjoy the support of today’s Reigning Oligarchs. Corporations like TXU, AT&T, Pfizer and General Electric are not your constituents, nor do they represent the interests of any of those who reside in your district. Despite this, your War Chest is full of their dollars; your votes, seemingly directed by their financial interests. Perhaps that is why you have accepted nearly $60,000 from big drug industry interests since you began your political career. One only has to look at who you were most swayed by when it comes to the debate over Internet Neutrality: you supported the telecom giants in their effort to set up toll booths across our lines of communication. It is the People’s Internet, Congressman. Remember that. Should this bill pass the Senate, and our digital first amendment lies in pieces, we will be angry. Very angry. Rest assured.

Touting “Conservative Values” will get you only so far. Big talk requires bold action, yet you voted for the Bush Budget, which authorized the accumulation of the most debt in the history of all this nation’s presidents, combined. With the passage of this deceptive bill, we, the citizens, are responsible for paying in excess of $30,000 per person. And then, to top it all off, Bush altered the bill, adding more pork-barrel spending to it, AFTER it passed Congress. He signed it into law without the approval of your governing body. You do know that is a violation of the Constitution, right? Every sixth grader knows the process of how a bill becomes a law. You have remained silent despite this illegal action; a direct violation of everything this nation stands for. That is inexcusable.

And Webster's still only getting warmed up. In the Bush administration's pay-to-play congress, Representative Burgess has been the most obliging of rubber-stamps. It's an amazing record, really, considering he was only elected to congress in 2002.

North Texas deserves better. This fall, there is an alternative. Tim Barnwell is running against Michael Burgess for the Texas 26th Congressional District. Tim supports restoring the original PAY-GO rules to curb the growth of government spending. He doesn't believe we should bankrupt our government to provide tax cuts to the ultra-rich. He wants to keep the internet free of the corporate power grab that would curtail free speech and innovation. He wants restored funding to our veterans' programs so that those who serve their country will receive the benefits we promised them. He believes it's time to wake up and get serious about our energy dependence, and the vulnerability in which it leaves our country. Visit his website, and if you like what you see, make a donation. Help put someone in Congress who speaks for you and your interests, not big business and the penthouse elite.

Disclaimer: I volunteer for the Barnwell campaign. Join me.