Wasting Time Again: An Open Letter to Kurt Schrader

Hello Campaign,

A friend forwarded the message below to me. Kurt Schrader is fundraising. 

Here's my response: No. No way. Not a thing. Not now. Not later. Never. 

Kurt Schrader lost my vote irretrievably with his votes on Cuba and net neutrality. 

Nonetheless, I have attended two town hall meetings held by Mr. Schrader here in Salem. 

I am concerned with the Korea (and Panama and Colombia and Pan-Pacific) FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS.

I am concerned about JOBS.

I am in favor of SINGLE PAYER.

This summer I spent nearly three hours in Mr. Schrader's Salem office explaining just how the economic and jobs crisis is playing out here at home, on the ground. In those two meetings there were a total of 35 people. I have spent an additional two hours in front of Mr. Schrader's Salem office. I'll be there again tomorrow re the postal service. You can find postings about these meetings at willamettereds.blogspot.com. You will find this letter there too.

Whereas Mr. Schrader vocally defended Obamacare and allegedly is a sponsor of HR 1351, I find him sorely lacking on other CRITICAL issues.

I left a couple of questions about FREE TRADE with staff member Trevor, who promised answers. That was quite a while ago. No response whatsoever. I will repeat the most important questions, and I expect answers within 48 hours. I'm sure Trevor has been working on a response for a couple of months now; surely it g0t misplaced - or something.

1. Show me exactly how the Korea Free Trade Agreement will create jobs here and now. Details! Flow charts! Contracts! Treaties! Application forms! 

Keep in mind I have been unemployed for six months now and have just started my first extension of UI benefits. We have NOTHING, except a huge struggle to continue to live in our below-market apartment. My family is strung together with two part-time jobs and my UI. My daughter holds one of those jobs; she is also attending Chemeteka Community College. She'd love to become independent from her parents. She can't make it without us; we can't make it without her.

The sad part of the story is not how difficult this is for us - it's that there are SO MANY FAMILIES in similar and worse situations. I have been DEVASTATED by the meetings in Mr. Schrader's office upon hearing about the depth and breadth of the economic crisis. 

And yet Mr. Schrader has not addressed the jobs issue. The only comment I've heard from him on this  is that he gets calls all the time from seniors worried about losing their Social Security. 

In a fine piece of double talk, Mr. Schrader assured the audience at the fiscal town hall that seniors will not lose Social Security and that it will be there in the future for our kids - even if they don't expect it. He's working hard to make sure of that! The retirement age may be 70 or greater but people are living longer so hey! It's good! And they don't really expect it anyway.... And cuts before that? Well,....

2. Just exactly how stupid do you think I am? We are? To call FREE TRADE a job plan! How about FAIR TRADE? Let's make sure Americans AND Koreans have jobs. 

I'll stop here and wait for a response on the free trade issues. I hear Mr. Schrader is planning on voting Yes on the Korea plan.

See you tomorrow at 494 State St in Salem, 4 pm.

*******************

Dear Friend,

Without question, the worst part of being a member of the United States Congress is the endless fundraising. Believe me; I don’t enjoy emailing, calling and writing folks to ask them to support me with a campaign contribution.

But in today’s political climate, members in competitive districts must make fundraising a priority if they want to stay on the job. The Citizens United Supreme Court decision certainly didn’t help. We’re in the Wild West of spending on political campaigns in this country.

So that’s why I’m writing again today to ask for your support. October is traditionally the month when opponents surface in Oregon political races, and I expect this year to be no different. It is critical that I have a strong showing to demonstrate support. I’m currently $7,000 short of my fundraising goal for this quarter, and I hope you will make a contribution today to help put me over the top.

Karl Rove and his allies have already spent more than $250,000 in attack ads against me over the summer. It’s a small down payment on their plans to take Oregon’s 5^th Congressional district out of our hands. Your support can help me counter their efforts.

While I don’t enjoy the constant fundraising pressures, I refuse to let these out of state special interests distort my record of fighting for Oregonians. With your help, we’ll stand up together against the special interests.

All the best,

Kurt

P.S. Again your contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50, or whatever you can afford is critical to making sure I have the resources necessary for November. You can contribute online right now by clicking here!

P.P.S. Contributions to this committee are not tax deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes; however, Oregon taxpayers are allowed a tax credit of up to $50 (up to $100 for joint filers).