The Senate

Yesterday I was off my nut. I was listening to the 11 second sound bite about how Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky was able to successfully hold off the 30 day extension of the Stimulus bill that extends unemployment benefits to Americans out of work as well as a few other programs. I had never emailed a Senator before but I did yesterday. Matter of fact, I emailed a bunch of them, every one I could think of. It was actually quite simple, you type into Google the Senators name and email, for example, Jim Bunning email address and pretty much the top hit is the .gov contact page for that person. You then fill in the email form and Bam, the email is done.

I told them to get off their collective asses and do something. I also told them that they are completely out of touch with the American people. Senator Bunning is a hall of fame MLB player and then was elected to the Senate. So, let me get this straight, he collects a pension and medical from the MLB Players Association, has his investments from his MLB career days, gets lifetime medical and a government pension forever as a senator, it seems to me that health care, retirement, and a steady income are not things that Senator Bunning has ever been concerned with. This is certainly true of all our elected Washington officials. Do you wonder why they are out of touch with our needs?

Did you know that a letter written to your govenor or other elected official represents 10,000 people aka opinions aka votes. An email represents 5,000. Be heard! And be heard loudly. How will they know what you want and how you feel about what they are doing if you don't tell them? You are a vote and let's face it, that's the most important thing to them. Just remember, there is a large percentage of Senators up for re-election in 2011 and they care about all those perks, limo to work, free lodging, food, money, power......all those things we don't have.

Here are some valuable links:
Contacting Congress, what is there name and what's their address? --> http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Senators and an interesting look at Classes --> http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
How to Email your Governor --> http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml
How much does your senator make not including perks?
Members of the U.S. Senate in 2009 receive a salary of $174,000 per year. Those who are leaders in the Senate (majority and minority leaders, and the president pro tempore) earn more; in 2009 they earn $193,400. For an official document on senators' salaries since the beginning of Congress, follow this link:
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm

What other perks do they get after they leave? Here is an interesting article about a former Republican Speaker of the House.
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=LatestNews.NewsStories&ContentRecord_id=fd2b3d27-802a-23ad-4f15-0bc3d6299d6c