Obama to Visit Elkhart (Indiana) Monday, Feb. 9 (woo-hoo!)
February 6, 2009 by Julia King
Here’s confirmation from a local television station.
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2 Responses to “Obama to Visit Elkhart (Indiana) Monday, Feb. 9 (woo-hoo!)”
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From: Teresa L. Brouillette [mailto:eremaled@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 1:00 PM
Subject: FW: Stimulus Plan AND SUGGESTIONS
Hi citizens,
I just wanted to share with you the message (below) in the hopes that you might be inspired to send a similar message to our Senators and representatives. I encourage you to continue flexing your electoral muscle – let your voices be heard.
PS: In addition to sending messages to Obama’s “Change America” team ( info@barackobama.com ), you can “Google” the names of our senators and representative to find their “Contact Us” web pages. It’s very easy to voice your opinion.
From: Teresa L. Brouillette [mailto:eremaled@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 12:42 PM
To: info@barackobama.com
Subject: Stimulus Plan AND SUGGESTIONS
Mr. President,
I just want you to be aware of the ideas and concerns I’ve expressed to Senator Lugar. I sent a CC of this message to Senator Bayh and to my Rep. Mr. Joe Donnelley from the 2nd District of Indiana as well.
You’re doing an OUTSTANDING JOB as President – as I knew you would. I’m committed to helping this country and I’m delighted to follow your leadership.
I do hope your staff will carefully consider some of the ideas I’ve suggested in this message. I’ll be sending others in the near future.
In the mean time, I pray everyday for you and your beautiful family – and the fine people you’ve chosen for your staff and cabinet. Keep up the good work.
Most sincerely,
Teresa L. Brouillette, Elkhart, Indiana
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Dear Senator Lugar,
I have great respect and admiration for your long career of service to our country. You are one of the brightest spots in our government. Perhaps the concerns I am about to express do not specifically relate to you – - I have not heard or read about your personal views of the proposed stimulus package. Nevertheless, I want to express my concern for the reported ‘feet dragging’ by Republican senators where favorable vote for the proposed stimulus package is concerned.
Again, I acknowledge you might not be among the senators who have been saying the stimulus bill has too much wasteful spending in it. Yet, I have heard various house and senate members scoff at appropriations which they deem as being targeted for measures that will “not stimulate the economy.” Specifically, one representative derided the fact that the amount of money being appropriated for the National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities was larger than the amount of money that would actually help ‘small business.’
What that representative fails to realize is that Arts organizations ARE SMALL BUSINESSES. Arts organizations are some of the smallest businesses in the country and they are the MOST VULNERABLE to negative economic trends.
An unemployed musician or, an unemployed local historian is just as unemployed as an unemployed auto-worker.
By the way, no matter what kind of job the unemployed person lost – as result of their unemployment, they no longer pay taxes. Unemployed people become eligible for unemployment benefits. In other words, (to use a popular phrase among conservatives) ‘they are being paid to sit around and do nothing.’
I fail to understand why Republicans generally prefer to extend ‘tax credits,’ over the alternative of spending money on programs that create and preserve jobs. Tax credits help only those people who are actually employed and earning a taxable income. Money needs to be spent to CREATE JOBS for those who have lost them – - and PRESERVE the jobs (in worth-while programs) which might be lost if Federal funding is CUT.
Putting people to work weatherizing low-income housing and government buildings, as well as improving our long-neglected infrastructure, is a WONDERFUL idea. KEEPING people at work in schools and in the over-loaded, back-logged social services sector would be money WELL SPENT! Those initiatives WOULD stimulate the economy AND, we – the tax-payers – would have something worthwhile to show for our tax dollars.
Finally, why can’t the Republicans … (sorry if my broad brush strokes erroneously paint you) … get it through their heads that investment in green initiatives IS an investment in their ‘beloved’ SMALL BUSINESS.
For example, there is a small handful of entrepreneurial engineers across the country who have been tinkering away at increasing fuel efficiency in cars – with tremendous, viable success. Think how much farther we could go (and how much faster we could get there) if these environmentally conscious engineers received an infusion of cash to make their innovations more readily available on a broad, national scale. The best way to ‘bail out’ the auto-industry is to infuse Detroit with a dose of GRASS ROOTS INNOVATION. Make it possible for the small-garage-engineers to get their innovations produced on a large scale.
I just don’t accept Detroit’s claims (supported by members of Congress) that it is ‘not possible’ for them to massively shift production. It was done in WWII (with support from the US government). American auto companies manage to manufacture cars in other countries with higher efficiency standards – they can do it here too – - IF Congress has the WILL to MAKE them do it.
Further, when JFK tossed his cap into the new frontier of space, American ingenuity found a way – – not only to put humans on the moon but, to provide them with a ‘moon-roving’ automobile as well. Scientists and engineers have already developed the technology for solar powered automobiles. More than one such vehicle has successfully been traversing the face of Mars for years! It is foolish for anyone to expect us – the American people – to ‘buy’ Detroit’s ‘excuses’ for offering only vehicles with pitifully low efficiency.
While I generally support the idea of investment in research simply for the sake of gaining knowledge, I think it was foolish for our most recent former President to have set his sites on sending humans to Mars when so many people right here on this planet are in need of adaptations of ‘space age technology’ which already exists. Rather than cutting NASA funding (putting NASA scientists out of work) perhaps Congress should at least temporarily divert NASA BRAIN POWER towards bringing space-age technology to the auto industry. While you’re at it, apply the same general premise to the on-going development of affordable technology to capture wind and solar energy. Wouldn’t that be a worthy investment in SMALL BUSINESS???
I urge all the members of Congress to begin and sustain a long-term shift from subsidies in outmoded energy programs (including oil, coal and corn-based ethanol) to subsidies in more efficient and sustainable sources of energy (wind, solar, tide … and efficiently generated bio-fuel, such as the ethanol made from switchgrass instead of corn). I know Indiana is a big corn producing state – which enjoys sizable farm subsidies for growing corn. But, Hoosiers are extremely practical. If Hoosiers are given an incentive to grow low maintenance switchgrass instead of corn (the yields of which depend upon high-cost petrochemicals), they’ll go for it – if they receive practical leadership from you.
I could go on with other issues that cause me concern but, this is enough for one message.
I know you’re a practical, reasonable man. PLEASE encourage your colleagues in the Senate to do what’s right for this country by INVESTING in US – the grass-roots American people. WE are WORTH it. Just give us the RESOURCES so that we can BE PRODUCTIVE.
Thank you,
Teresa L. Brouillette
Elkhart, Indiana
Thanks for posting your comments, Teresa.
I appreciate your passion and determination to move things in the right direction. As you’re demonstrating — being in direct (and frequent) contact with representatives is the only way to make these major shifts happen.