I Wrote to My Members of Congress

 

    I am so tired of being this concerned about the government, when my members of Congress  seem to not care at all.

    So, I wrote to them. IF they respond, I will share those responses.

    Here's what I wrote:

            Dear Member of Congress,

For the last three weeks, I have called your office to voice my opinion as one of your constituents. Now, I am asking for your explanation. I do expect a response from you.

On January 31^st, Americans discovered that Elon Musk, an unelected private citizen, was given complete access to the Treasury department, including all computers and databases. He and his employees (who were not vetted, and had no security clearances) had free rein over sensitive data and systems in the Treasury. Is this correct?

Shortly after, we learned that Elon Musk had entered the offices of USAID, taking over the building and locking out employees—not even those who ran the agency were allowed in. Not only that, they were shut out of their emails and any access to the work they were doing. All operations of USAID were halted.

MANY of your constituents began to call, including me. So many, in fact, that call volume to members of Congress increased to unimaginable levels. I’m sure your staff will agree with this statement.

We were calling because we were frightened—concerned that people who had absolutely no clearance from anyone in government—had access to our personal data, and who we could only guess were doing immeasurable harm to our government systems. We expected YOU, our elected member of Congress, to act. THAT is your job. To stop this madness, to regain control of OUR government.

We have heard absolutely nothing from you. No statement of reassurance that you were doing your job, and certainly no words to indicate you even care.

Do you care?

Are you doing your job?

How???

Yes, I do expect a reply from you.

In your explanation to me, perhaps you could also answer the following questions:

 

·       Why did you abdicate your job as a member of Congress to Elon Musk? What is it that gives him the experience to take on your tasks as a lawmaker and overseer of departments and agencies in the US government?

·       With USAID now shut down, how do you plan to help those Indiana farmers who were providing crops to those in need overseas?

·       How will you explain to the colleges and universities in our state that their research funding has been drastically cut, even though you did not authorize these cuts?

·       How do you propose to reassure citizens in Indiana that Bird Flu, and other infectious diseases are being monitored and warnings (if needed) will be issued in the state if the CDC has been decimated and much of their data inaccessible, even though you did not authorize that?

·       How do you plan to speak to Indiana residents who are facing cuts to their Medicaid and SNAP benefits, even though you did not vote for that?

·       How AND WHEN will you explain to us that you decided not to do the jobs we elected you to do? That you allowed a president who has numerous vendettas and certainly NOT a voter “mandate” to decimate so many departments and agencies in OUR government? How will you explain that, when you certainly didn’t campaign for the takeover of our government by Elon Musk?

·       How will you ever regain all the power that you gave away?

 

I have more questions, but I will write again. I look forward to your prompt response.

 

 

I'm Still Angry...and Sad

 

I am still angry and sad about the 2024 elections. I haven't "gotten over it" and I haven't "moved on". I know there are a lot of people who feel the way I do, and I know that fear and dread have crept in as additional emotions--not ideal for being a functional optimist today!

I still feel this way even after reading so many "post-election breakdowns" of data, and the added opinion pieces of what the Democrats got "so wrong" this election.

Here's what I think--it's very simple. People DID NOT VOTE. 

If you voted...thank you. You don't have to keep reading.

If you are an adult citizen of the United States, and you did not vote then shame on you. Really....shame the fuck on you. And do NOT take comfort in this fact:  data shows that only about 64% of the voting-eligible population in the U.S. voted in the 2024 election. In my opinion, you and the other 36% can go to hell. 

Harsh words? Nope.

Not when elections can have extreme consequences. For minorities of every stripe; if you didn't vote, then you are responsible for making life much more difficult for people in your lives:  women, children, people who have a disability, people struggling with illness, people living at or below the poverty line, people in rural areas, public school students, anyone who is L, G, B, T, Q or + :   you have decided, by your laziness, to impact their lives in a negative way for at least the next two years. I see women and children being the most impacted--women will lose more of their right to health care and their own bodily autonomy, children will see their right to a free public education diminished, their food security dramatically shrinking. That's right--because you were too lazy to vote, kids will go hungry, and women will die. This is NOT hyperbole--it's already happening. 

Because here's the truth:  you don't NOT vote when things are going well for you. If you have a good job, if your family has adequate healthcare and nobody in your family has died (since 2020) of COVID, you don't decide, "I'll sit this election out. I'm too busy (i.e. selfish) to vote." You don't NOT vote for the office of the president because "they won't do [x or y or z] for me."

You think I'm "off the mark" on this?? Well then, here's a statistic for you:  "Harris had 6,285,500 fewer popular votes than Biden won in 2020, but 774,847 more than Trump won in 2020."  (From US News 11/15/2024)

Harris had 6 MILLION fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. And no, it's not "because the economy" (because the US economy has rebounded from the pandemic faster and better than any country in the world, wages are up, and unemployment is low). It's because we were facing the worst possible personal scenarios in 2020, and we were motivated to save ourselves--we are a selfish species. Probably the worst of all possible reasons people didn't vote?? "I think enough people are going to vote, so I don't need to."

But all in all, it's pure and simple--less people voted in 2024 than in 2020. 

I have a special message for those women who will be in their 30's and 40's in 2028 (see statistics below):  things will get worse for women in the future if you don't support each other NOW. I know you grew up with Roe v Wade "being the law of the land", and I know you grew up the beneficiaries of all the feminists fought for in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, and I know you grew up in a time it was "okay to be gay". But if you don't start taking politics seriously; if you don't start voting every. single. time. you will lose all of those privileges your grandmothers, mothers, and aunties fought for. And it will be worse for your daughters.

So, grow up and get ready to FIGHT.  And get involved in your country NOW.

Please? There are a lot of us who are getting too old to keep fighting for you.

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Young voters favored Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the 2024 election by 4 points: 51% to 47%. That was a much smaller margin than young voters gave President Biden over Trump in 2020 (+25), but still by far the strongest support for Harris of any age group in this election. Only 1% of young voters backed a third-party or independent candidate, slightly lower than the 3% who did so in 2020.

There was a notable difference by age within the 18-29 age group. Voters ages 18-24 supported Harris by 10 points, while their older peers (ages 25-29) supported Trump by 2 points. In the 2020 election, this group of young people were 21-25. That year, 18- to 24-year-olds supported Biden by 29 points, highlighting a major shift in vote choice for this segment of the youth electorate. 

There were major differences in youth support for both candidates by factors like race, gender, and education.

The Gender Gap: Young Women +17 for Harris, Young Men +14 for Trump

As many observers expected before the election, there was a significant gender gap among young voters. Young women preferred Harris to Trump by a 17-point margin: 58% to 41%. But young men preferred Trump by a 14-point margin: 56% to 42%.

Notably, that gender gap is larger than the gender gap for the electorate overall. Among voters of all ages, 52% of all female voters backed Harris, compared to 46% for Trump (+6). While among all male voters, Trump won 55% to 43% (+12). Young people who identify as nonbinary or in another way other than as a man or woman supported Harris by a 69-point margin.