Llyod Doggett Sends Me A Letter

[Updates below.]

His House of Representatives website

Now, I didn't vote in last year's elections, so I'm assuming this is either a result of me finally registering to vote in my district or it's because he sends out mail to all the constituents he represents after an election. I'll post it in it's entirety, along with the survey he included.

Dear Charles,

I am writing to alert you to some important issues being considered in Congress and to make you aware of the services available in both my Austin and Washington offices. A major part of my job as your Congressman is serving as an advocate for any citizen of Travis County, regardless of party or philosophy, who has a legitimate complaint with a federal agency, or who simply needs help to cut through red tape. Specialists in my Austin office are experienced in dealing with a wide range of federal issues, including Social Security, veterans' concerns, and passport and visa applications for travelers. Please feel free to contact my Austin office for help in resolving problems with federal agencies.

My Washington office deals with the legislative work of the U.S. House of Representatives. My priorities include protecting the environment, seeking to ensure fair treatment by managed care organziations, strengthening Social Security, establishing a more equitable tax code, securing access to more affordable prescription medications, improving the quality of public education, and conserving taxpayer dollars.

You can reach me through either office and by email at
Lloyd.Doggett@mail.house.gov, or you can stop by and visit during my neighborhood office hours held regularly throughout Travis County. You can also contact me through my web site at http://www.house.gov/doggett, which contains important information, resources and links to other useful sites. The best way to ensure your priorities are my priorities in Washington is by letting me hear from you. Enclosed is a legislative survey covering several of the important issues currently before Congress. You can complete the survey and return it by mail or access it electronically through my web site.

I look forward to hearing from you -- whether to help you with a problem, provide information on legislative matters, or recieve your good counsel.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Doggett

One thing I got a kick out of (besides that litany of things he wants to accomplish in the second paragraph...topped off by that remark about doing all of it and conserving taxpayer dollars!), were the notices printed on the letter and the envelope stating, "This mailing was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense." It just sounds so Official.

The survey asks of me:

1. Which of the following is the most important area to you for action by Congress?

Reduce federal taxes

Close tax loopholes for large corporations

Pay down our national debt

Increase access to quality child care

Strengthen environmental laws

Encourage pensions & increase retirement security

Offer affordable prescription drugs for seniors

Other _________________________________

2. Should Congress place any restrictions on a woman's access to abortion?

Yes

No

Undecided

3. The goal for Social Security legislation should be to:

Preserve the current system that guarantees retirement, survivor, and disability benefits

Replace the current system with individual and private investment accounts

4. Which of the following is the most important education priority to you for action by Congress?

Providing more financial assistance for students to attend college

Offering greater funding for public elementary and high schools

Enacting a voucher system to provide federal money to private schools

Other _________________________________

There's then space for additional comments.

My answers are underlined, but I feel I have to make a few comments about them. For the first question, the choice of answers makes it easy to choose reducing federal taxes, but the most important area of action Congress needs to take is a generalized withdrawl from intrusion into the lives of citizens (and business!). Since that intrusion can only be done when money pays for it, the easiest answer to the question is to take that money away, even though being anti-tax isn't the real reason.

For the fourth question, a similar problem occurs but with a different twist. I realize that my desire to see the federal government stop paying for the education of others with money taken from me is not very likely, especially when asked of Doggett, who makes it plain he supports public schools completely. So, in the interests of pushing an agenda that at least gets pointed in the right direction, I choose vouchers, even though my money is still being taken away from me in order to pay for someone else's education. The measure creates competition among schools and breaks up the near-monopoly government schools have on primary education. I feel it's a better (and more achieveable in the short term) solution than continuing to spend more money on public education.

Just from skimming through the info I can find on him tells me much of what I'd like done would be lost on him. However, as an experiment, I plan to contact his office on a regular (monthly or so) basis with my opinions on current issues.

UPDATE 9/24/2004 5:30pm
I haven't been contacting him at all. And I certainly don't give a damn about voting any longer. The Austin American-Statesman, Voting, Free Speech, and Information.

Posted by Drizzten at January 09, 2003 07:57 PM