Dear America,

"Just say NO."


Ah yes, the quintessential slogan for the eighties. What do you say we bring it on back and send Congress a message. It's not too late you know, really it isn't.



I wrote letters to my representatives this evening courtesy of a website congress.org. I believe it to be totally non-partisan and from what I have seen, they are an amazing vehicle to fast, efficient, nearly immediate connection to our beautiful Congress as one can get. Not only can you take advantage of sending letters to your representatives without a walk to the mailbox, but at your fingertips is a virtual congressional aide to guide you through current legislation, history of voting records and ability to see other letters written by the American people.

What made my mouth drop was reading these other letters from other Americans; and I got so warm and fuzzy inside. (You know I'm referencing the crazy town people with Swastikas like Nancy Pelosi refers to...the fanatical and angry mob people that are only there because some right-wing activist group is organizing it...those people.)

I'm telling you, every letter I plugged into was so not happy with Congress. No matter what part of the country; the letters were thoughtful and insightful and full of passion! Each one spelled out a message from the heart with regards to this current Health Care "crisis" and they were all along the same lines..."Just say NO."

What was also fascinating was understanding how even though we were all saying the same thing, we got there from widely different experiences and views. It wasn't just that we were saying no, we were validating the no with good reasons based on what we know for ourselves to be true.

And if what we are hearing from congress is true in that they are dismissing us Americans who are responding as partisan talking idiots, then they have another thing coming I'm telling you. These letters from individuals like myself, and thousands more, are not coming from a pack mentality; it is personal. Very personal.

From my average American perspective, I don't believe one bit of this response is peer pressure. Clearly, Americans are not stupid. We have done our homework, we have had a chance to see what works (or doesn't) in other countries, we have even seen cases where private hospitals flourish, as in the Cleveland Medical Center, and we have a real issue with bureaucratic waste and fraud.

When running all the numbers (costs vs benefits) evidence is just not there to support this kind of measure; this health care bill simply does not justify itself to be the end all, all or nothing, solution to the 15% of the population who remain uninsured. And we need to look no further than within the elite, ivy league campus of Congress to discover who really has the issue with just saying no.

So write your congressman or woman today. And tell them what?

Right...Just say NO!

Make it a good day, G