Message to My Congresscritter, Martin Heinrich

Breaking with usual sentiment and tradition, I tried to engage in a bit of actual communiction with my congresscritter today, to discover--to receive reassurance that--if he were one of the approximately 100 brave souls who have publically pledged to reject the recommendations of Prez. Shamwow's Catfood Commission if those include raising the retirement age, or reducing Social Security/Medicare benefits. His web-site leaves one with the impression that the LAST FUCKING THING IN THE WORLD he wants is to hear from constituents. I sent this message to his campaign office, but they ignored it. So here is, an open letter to my Congresscritter:

Sir:
I am a 'senior," retired constituent who agrees with the sentiment expressed by Dean Baker in a column today. "The Social Security Pledge v. The Old Politics," in which he points out (the money quote for our purposes here):

If President Obama believed in "new politics" then he would encourage members to say where they stand on cutting Social Security benefits. Then voters would be given the opportunity to set the country's agenda, not a bunch of political hacks and Wall Street cronies who were too incompetent to see the $8 trillion housing bubble that wrecked the economy.

Of course, the public does not have to wait for President Obama to pass judgment. There is a pledge to protect Social Security that has already been endorsed by more then 100 members of Congress. The pledge is very simple. It commits members of Congress, or candidates, to oppose cutting Social Security benefits or raising the retirement age.

It doesn't get any simpler than this - even a member of Congress can understand it. The full text is available at the Campaign for America Future's web site.

Given the simplicity of this statement, it is reasonable to assume that any member of Congress or candidate who does not sign on supports cutting Social Security benefits. There really is no other plausible conclusion.

There is really no arguing with that. So it was to reassure myself that, if Mr. Heinrich has not yet signed such a pledge, it is a mere oversight which he will repair post haste now that the opportunity is presented so handily, that I take the opportunity to make this inquiry.

Please assure me that Mr. Heinrich has indeed pledged to protect the bought-and-paid-for "benefits" already won for the Nation's workers.

RSVP.

Sincerely, etc...