In fear for my country

An open letter to my congressional representatives.

Honorable Sens. Feinstein and Boxer
Honorable Rep. Farr

I address you with “Honorable” because that is what “We the People” expect of our elected representatives in Congress. I must, however, tell you that it is with trepidation that I use that term now.

I have voted in all elections since I attained my 21st birthday, and while my candidate was not always successful, at no time in the past have I ever been fearful for the future of my country. I have been in touch with you on numerous occasions over a period of many years voicing my concerns. I find that on each such occasion you have responded to my concerns with a generic return letter that simply tells me why you choose not to support my position on the issue of the day.

Is there such a thing as an ethical member of Congress? Find out in Sen. Tom Coburn’s “Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders”

The Constitution of the United States is a document that provided the basis for our country to become the Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth. I have watched the values and principles that guided our Founding Fathers distorted and twisted beyond recognition. Federal laws have infringed on states and individual rights and have virtually destroyed the Bill of Rights. The federal government is now guilty of committing the same atrocities our Founding Fathers experienced at the hands of the king of England, which prompted them to write our Declaration of Independence.

Each of you have sworn to support, protect, and defend (above all) the Constitution of the United States of America. What I have witnessed over the past 50-plus years, however, tells me that one Congress after the other (elected representatives of both parties) have done nothing more than give lip service to our Constitution.

Onerous rules and regulations and a confiscatory tax structure have driven much of our once thriving manufacturing industries out of the country. This has deprived our working-class citizens of the ability to earn an adequate income to support their families and has driven once self-sufficient honorable families into poverty.

One of the constitutional duties of our federal government is to protect the states from invasion. Yet, Congress has for years ignored the overwhelming pleas of “We the People” and turned a blind eye to the invasion of our country by millions of illegal aliens who have put undue strain on our states’ budgets. The will of “We the People” has been undermined by judicial rulings that overturned Proposition 187, which clearly stated that we did not want to pay taxes to supply services to those who entered our country illegally.

Congressional meddling in the lending rules that our banks adopted to insure a solid financial footing were set aside in one of the largest social engineering programs ever devised by man. As a result, our once vibrant nation has been brought to a position of total bankruptcy. And now, “We the People” are being forced to finance bailing out the very financial institutions you have destroyed.

We watched in horror while each of you in the middle of the night blindly voted to approve an 1,100-page document that not a one of you (much less any of your constituents) had time to read. You have committed the worst crime against the very people who placed their trust in you and who have every right to expect you to live up to your oath of office – shame on you!

This has to STOP NOW.

No more bailouts! No more stealth legislation in the middle of the night!

With deep regret and a feeling of fear and total frustration,

Donna L. Hollenstain