Last night, I sent e-mails to Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine and to Senator Specter from Pennsylvania, the three Republican Senators who reportedly were leaning in the direction of voting in favor of the dreadful “Stimulus” Bill. In each case, I respectfully shared my views on the bill and urged them not to vote for it.

In short order, I received two robo-replies via e-mail, one from Senator Collins’ office and one from the office of Senator Specter. The reply from Senator Collins’ simply acknowledged receipt of the e-mail and indicated that a response would be forthcoming if I had requested one (I had requested one).

The response from Senator Specter suggested that, because I am not a Pennsylvania resident, I should not expect a response and that perhaps I should not bother him, but rather deal with my own Senators. Here is the pertinent portion of the e-mail for the office of Senator Specter:

(Please do not reply to this email)

Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

I receive a large volume of E-mails, phone calls, faxes and letters every week from concerned citizens like yourself.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of mail, I can only respond if you’re a resident of Pennsylvania. If you need to find out who your U.S. Senator is please go to www.senate.gov.

Golly, Senator, I apologize for wasting your time, but I am a U.S. Citizen, and I wrote to you because you are about to put your fingerprints on a monumentally horrible piece of legislation that will affect citizens in all fifty states, not just Pennsylvania. In fact, it will affect future generations of citizens of all fifty states, not just Pennsylvania. I foolishly thought that you might want to hear what supporters of your party think of the Bill.

As for my Senators, I assure you I know their names, and I do write to them from time to time. There is no point in writing to them about this Bill, because, if they had their way, the Bill would be twice its size.

I suggest that if you are going to vote with the Democrats on this Bill, you might just as well change your party affiliation, because I want no part of this Bill, or any so-called Republican who votes for it.

Sincerely,
Jim