LETTER: Congress dropped the ball

I recently received a letter from a congressman of my acquaintance. In that letter, in addition to a request for funds, he wrote about the need for citizenry to keep the faith, to fight the good faith, etc. In short, it appeared he felt that the public has more work to do with respect to the recession, jobs, the deficit, health care and other problems.

I reacted with some dismay. My thought was that we have elected you and others to take care of these things and you in Congress as a whole have dropped the ball.

Consider the following:

The historic health care bill is being negotiated in secret.

One of the purposes of health care reform is to create savings for the health care system as a whole. Yet there is no provision in either bill for Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription medicine with the drug companies.

Consider also that drugs available in the United States are available at far lower costs in Canada.

Consider that the drug companies, not satisfied with the ability to force Medicare to accept their outrageous costs for prescription drugs, now want to prohibit competition from generic drugs.

Consider the special treatment granted to certain Congressmen in return for their support of the health care proposal.

Consider that the labor unions have obtained an exemption from the tax on "Cadillac" health plans. The common man obtains no exemption.

Consider that members of Congress are permitted to "earmark" expenditures for public works without public scrutiny. No disclosure, no debate.

Consider that not a single member of Congress is currently being investigated for ethics violations even though a more stringent ethics bill was put in place a few years ago.

Consider that members have basically exempted themselves and the Congressional health care plans from inclusion in this bill.

Consider that one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases is the agriculture industry. Guess which industry was granted an exemption from the provisions of the cap-and-trade bill passed earlier this year by the House of Representatives?

Consider that the average citizen has no real voice in Congress.

Consider that it does not seem to matter who is president or whom we send to Congress. It is business as usual. Special interests rule the country. Is this democracy?

ROBERT GREGORY

Manassas