Here is why I suggest you call rather than send email or faxes to your Senators:
That’s the request on the home page of Senator Patty Murray, D-WA. Is she open to hear your objections about Health Care Reform or to address your concerns? One certainly doesn’t get that impression after visiting her web site. She asks for no feedback from those of us that do NOT support Health Care Reform! It appears her only interest is gathering stories that will support her agenda. Apparently, Murray only represents a selection portion of her constituents. ( Remember, 2 out of 3 Senior Citizens do NOT support THIS Health Care Reform Bill).
In her own words, here is why she is requesting that you “Share Your Story”:
“Over the coming weeks, as I participate in committee meetings, consider amendments, and continue to fine tune our health care plan, my staff and I will be reviewing your thoughts and experiences. And with your permission, I will be asking some of you to allow me to use your stories in speeches and Senate debates to demonstrate the public need and support for health care reform this year”.
So, what happens to all those emails and faxes the Non-Supporters send to her office? In my opinion they are stacked into the junk pile, sent a canned response and then filed in that round can sitting beside the desk of some office staff person. I came to this conclusion after talking to friends who had also sent email to Senator Murray opposing Health Care Reform. We all received a response, in fact it was word for word exactly same response, only the salutation was changed which used our own names, naturally they want to make their response personal.
Just to make my point, I sent another email to Senator Murray this morning, and will be interested to see if I get the same response – or any response at all. My email said:
Dear Senator Murray, For those of us that have written to you asking that you not support Health Care Reform, we have compared your response. It is clear that nobody is reading or addressing our concerns. We have all received a “canned” response. Our email response from you are all exactly the same other than our names. This tells us that you have no interest in hearing from your constituents who oppose this current Health Care Reform Bill. Apparently you have made up your mind that you support this bill no matter the consequences to the citizens of Washington State.
We also noticed that you are only requesting stories from people that have had a negative experience with either medical care or insurance companies. I supposed those letter count for your justification to support the bill, while our objections are tossed in the garbage. It is obvious that you are not representing ALL Washington residents, only those that support your party position.
We will remember this when it is time for re-election. I’m 65 and I have never been active in a election campaign, you can be sure that people like myself will do everything possible to work towards electing a Senator that will listen to us and respond to the concerns of ALL of Washington State Residents.
My suggestion for you is that you ask others in your state that have faxed, emailed or written to their Senators or Representatives expressing their anger and lack of support for Health Care Reform, if they received a response. If they did, compare. Are you all getting a canned response? If you are, perhaps you should let your Senator know that you are aware of how serious they take your concerns.
She also offers this option on her site:
If you don’t want to share a story, please feel free to just sign up above to support health care reform efforts and we will keep you updated with the very latest.
Thank you for your help and your commitment to passing meaningful health care reform for all Americans this year.
If you would like to visit Patty Murray’s site, here is the URL!
Join the New "Our GOP Senior Citizens Group"
