Congressman Bill Foster: The Nature of our Government
…in my in-box just now from Congressman Foster:
Steve-
Our country faces a fundamental debate over the nature of government.
On one side, some of us believe that democratic governments can be powerful forces for good that must be continually evaluated, cared for and improved.
On the other side, there are many who truly believe that all government is intrinsically incompetent and should be eliminated wherever possible. This side is allied with cynical special interests that see government power as something to be manipulated to further their economic advantage.
The loss of Democratic control of the Senate made a big difference in what can be accomplished in that struggle. Instead of moving forward in a spirit of compromise and building on the real progress that has been made in areas like health care, economic recovery and Wall Street reform, we find ourselves each week getting on airplanes to Washington and simply trying to prevent bad things from happening.
No matter how events develop, I will need your help to carry on this fundamental debate. Can you make a contribution by our fundraising deadline on March 31 to send a message to Washington Republicans that Americans care about competent and thoughtful government?
This session began by re-electing John Boehner as Speaker of the House, the same man who has led one of the least productive Congresses in history – the man who for more than a year and a half single-handedly blocked the historic bipartisan compromise on Immigration Reform that would have easily passed in the House of Representatives had he simply allowed it to come up for a vote.
He has now been joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the man who pledged to do everything possible to block President Obama from the moment he took office.
Both of these gentlemen have continued to prove that they would rather deny Democrats any “wins” than actually find solutions to our nation’s problems.
What has followed has been a return to the same policies that wrecked our economy and weakened the fabric of our nation: handing out tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy on the backs of hardworking Americans, passing budgets that gut crucial services such as Medicare, cutting investments in science, research and education funding, and chipping away at women’s right to choose.
These efforts to return us to the failed policies of the past must stop. Can you make a contribution by our fundraising deadline on March 31 to send a message to Washington Republicans that we will not return to these failed policies?
Thank you for everything that you do. It’s an honor to fight for you in Washington. You can trust that I will continue to do just that.
–Bill
