It Is Time To Cut Up Your Card!

Senator Nelson,
I called your office this week to try and get a feel for how much is enough as it applies to the deficit. I asked your staffer what the magic number was, either in percent of GDP or a cap on the deficit where we can say this is how much we will ever borrow. Your employee began to give me your party line on empty business offices in Zurich and how we should close loopholes in the tax system. I pointed out that businesses do not spend tax dollars, the government does. I pointed out businesses invest their money in an attempt to develop, build , and sell their product and in the process they hire employees who are paid and pay taxes. I was told I wasn't smart enough to understand the underlying issues and I should get an MBA to learn about business ethics. I asked what ethics class Barney Frank attended when he developed the "No Unqualified Homeowner Left Behind" bill and I was told to call his office. I attempted to get the conversation back on point by suggesting the entitlements were the root cause of our financial mess. I even went so far as to tell your staffer I am the recipient of an entitlement due to a service connected disability and am willing to give up 10-15 percent to help shrink government. This was thrown back in my face and I was told I obviously could afford it but what about the majority who rely on we taxpayers for their daily bread (not an exact quote but implied). Your staffer then fell back on blaming big business and when I attempted to direct his attention to big unions he hung up on me.

Lessons learned from this phone call:
1. Do not call if you are a republican.
2. Do not call if you require a direct answer.
3. Do call if you want to be chastised and belittled by someone thirty years your junior.
4. Do call if you want to hear the Democrat talking points.
5. Do call if you want to be summarily hung up on.

In closing, if you, Senator Nelson, cannot even control your staffers' comments or emotions, how can I, just a taxpayer without an MBA, put any credence in what you are trying to do? The answer is I can't. From your staffer's answers and retorts it is quite evident you have become a Senator for hire, answerable to only those who live to vote and sadly, paid by the dwindling number of us who live to work.

With the respect due your Office,
Edward Rodda