Unsolicited response #2

With all the traveling he did around the country supporting Barack Obama’s Presidential bid, I thought Maryland’s Senator Ben Cardin wasn’t going to respond to the note I detailed back in September. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting a response but since I put up Senator Mikulski’s reply what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Dear Mr. Swartz:

Thank you for contacting me about the troubled state of our nation’s economy. Over the past few months, I have heard from thousands of Maryland families who are struggling with the aftershocks of the housing crisis and the declining stock market, as well as high energy and food prices. These economic concerns are foremost on my list of issues to address in the weeks to come.

As your Senator, I want to assure you that I take your concerns seriously. In these difficult times, I am committed to working in a bipartisan manner to find effective legislative solutions to benefit working families, who have been hardest hit by the downturn. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I will be involved in crafting next year’s budget resolution, which will become the blueprint for Congress’ spending decisions. It will be my top priority on the Committee to keep a watchful eye on the nation’s balance sheet and guarantee that efforts to repair our economy are in the best interests of taxpayers.

After years of inadequate oversight and lax enforcement of existing laws, Congress must also act to guarantee greater transparency and accountability so that consumers, homeowners, and investors are adequately protected. Additionally, we must reform our complex system of regulation so that we can help stabilize the markets and increase the availability of credit to families and small businesses.

As we look forward to the new Administration and the 111th Congress, which will convene in January, I ask you to continue to keep me informed of your views on efforts to improve the economy. With your help, we can work together in pursuit of bipartisan solutions to improve the lives of working families and our country as a whole.

Thank you again for writing to me.

Instead of a signature, I was invited to receive his e-newsletter which I indeed signed up for. It’s never too early to prepare for the 2012 campaign.

Seriously, it seems to me that many of the problems Senator Cardin cited in his first paragraph have less to do with lax government oversight than with too much interference and regulation. [I’m also wondering how he can talk about “inadequate oversight” and “reform(ing) our complex system of regulation” in the same paragraph and keep a straight face; that is unless he agrees there’s too much regulation – and I’m not holding my breath on that one.] Just for two examples, the subprime mortgage problem stemmed in large part from heavyhanded federal interference in the lending industry, with banks being threatened by ACORN and their allies with legal action if they didn’t loan money to those who wouldn’t necessarily qualify. It can also be argued convincingly that mandates on the usage of ethanol led to the spike in food prices as the price of corn sailed to all-time highs; in turn that jacked up the cost of dairy products and other foodstocks which depend on corn for their composition. ‘Tis the folly of using food for fuel, courtesy of Al Gore and Congress.

I can also speak to the lack of domestic oil activity and high fuel prices because of onerous environmental regulations and the offshore drilling ban that only recently expired – however, Senator Cardin’s party is the force behind a bid to restore the ban. Possibly the only one of the problems Senator Cardin noted which I can’t blame the majority Democrats in Congress for in some way is the declining stock market – on the other hand, there are some in his party and who think along similar lines as they do who believe that 401.k and other individual retirement accounts like the ones I have should be regarded as taxable income. Perhaps that can explain some of the sluggishness of the stock market.

And why is it that it’s always, ALWAYS, about “working families”? I happen to be a working single person, but beyond that, what’s wrong with advocating solutions to benefit everyone regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation and most particularly income level. I don’t suffer from class envy like many of my fellow bloggers who reside to the left of me do.

Also it’s worth asking Senator Cardin that, if he’s a proponent of “transparency and accountability”, where does he stand on eliminating earmarks? Sure, they’re not a large chunk of the overall budget but every little bit helps. Lord knows we’re not going to see much in the way of entitlement reform for at least the next two years, and perhaps we’ll take a large step backwards as President Obama finishes the job President Clinton vowed to do in the 1996 campaign – “fix” (read: eliminate) the welfare reform that Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” Congress got passed after Clinton vetoed it twice.

Finally, I would like to know where Senator Cardin reached across the aisle in a bid to shrink or streamline the federal government, or do away with the Gordian knots of red tape individuals and businesses need to wade through in order to succeed. It’s why I don’t wish to be “bipartisan” unless people agree with my principles as a starting point.

I will say one thing, though – if Senator Cardin wishes to know what my views on a number of subjects happen to be, it’s as simple as doing a little bit of web surfing and pointing his browser right here. He should feel free to comment as well. As you readers have seen over the last few weeks, the majority of my comments have been coming from his side of the aisle so why should the Senator not join them?

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

2 thoughts on “Unsolicited response #2”

  1. “As you readers have seen over the last few weeks, the majority of my comments have been coming from his side of the aisle so why should the Senator not join them?”

    Ha ha that’s too funny! Yep, slam the Democrats in blogland and you get a lot of disgruntled commenters. Seems to be a good formula. One Fox News uses quite often. Hey, what’s good for the goose…

  2. Now I didn’t say they were intelligent comments. 🙂

    But unlike some other bloggers, I have no fear of accepting comments from the other side. Once in awhile they’ll bring up a good point and I have almost as much fun writing the comment responses as I do the posts themselves.

    If my guess is correct, Ben will be on the radio tomorrow. I think it’s his week to call Bill Reddish and chat for a few minutes in the 7:40 a.m. slot – they’ve been doing every other week for several months but that may not be the case with the holidays coming. However Senator Cardin, Senator Mikulski, or any other elected official is welcome to put in their two cents here anytime they want (no pun intended.)

Comments are closed.