Another day, another trite reply

Remember when I wrote various congressmen about using pre-paid cash cards for tax refunds?

I got Obama's reply today; he's been busy. Here it is. After you get done reading this ad copy, ask yourself what this had to do with anything I wrote about?

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Dear Daniel:

Thank you for taking the time to inform me of your concerns. I take seriously the thousands of letters, e-mails, and calls I receive daily from Illinois constituents like you, and I value your ideas and opinions. Please accept my apology for the delayed response.

I am gratified by the opportunity that the people of Illinois have given me to work on the serious and challenging issues affecting our country’s future. In the first few months of this year, the United States Senate has considered – or will soon consider – important legislation relating to the President’s warrantless surveillance program, consumer protection, energy dependence, and the FY 2009 federal budget.

For my part, I am convinced there are three challenges we must face immediately for the sake of the nation and the world: global warming and our dependence on foreign oil; the challenge globalization poses to our economy and working families; and extracting ourselves from Iraq while assuming once more our leadership role in the world.

Global climate change and energy independence require the kind of ambitious, sustained effort by the American people that we summoned to fight World War II and put a man on the moon. The threat is great: scientists tell us that the earth is warming even faster than previously estimated; gas prices are hitting American families hard; and every day we help sustain foreign dictators by purchasing their oil. The transition to an economy in which we use less fossil fuel and generate less carbon will not be easy, but if we are serious and smart we can do it in a way that helps families through the transition that enlists American scientists, entrepreneurs and workers to develop the new technologies the world will need.

I am supporting several Senate bills that provide some answers to our energy problems: they would cap carbon emissions, auction the licenses to emit carbon, and require that our fuel use less carbon. This will generate funds that we can invest in developing and commercializing green technologies and training workers for new high-wage jobs. A bill that I introduced helped end the decades-long stalemate over automobile fuel economy standards and will begin the process of reducing the amount of oil that we import from hostile countries.

These steps are also important in helping us to address a second challenge that we have ignored for too long: American workers increasingly compete in a worldwide workforce. The result has been stagnating wages and shrinking benefits at a time when everyday costs – from child care to college to drug costs to gas prices – have increased.

The most important step we can take to help families in the 21st Century economy is to make affordable, comprehensive health care available to all Americans. It is unacceptable that 47 million Americans are without health insurance and that many more are underinsured – with policies that demand high premiums and out of pocket costs. The strain on our families, our economy and on our federal budget is unsustainable.

Further, we must do more to assist working families and ensure that our economy is generating quality, high-wage jobs that can support a family. These reforms should include addressing our failing pension system, assisting families struggling to balance work and family, providing quality early education, revamping our K-12 education system so that it prepares our children for the global economy, investing in science and technology, and updating our nation’s infrastructure.

To keep jobs at home, we must end tax breaks to corporations that invest overseas and provide incentives to companies that invest at home – something my Patriot Employers Act would do – while putting an end to negotiating trade deals that help special interests but do little to protect US workers or the environment.

All of this must be done in the midst of a weakening economy. I was glad that the Congress acted to provide working families a quick tax cut to stimulate our economy. In addition, I have proposed legislation to combat mortgage fraud and believe we also must pass a credit card bill of rights, protecting families from the numerous unscrupulous practices that have arisen in recent years.

Additionally, we must finally end the war in Iraq. I have put forward a plan that would ensure we are as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. At the same time, we must turn our attention to the real threats we face by finishing the fight against Al Qaeda. We can enlist others to join us if we assume our leadership role in the world by bringing others together to combat the common threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. We have begun some of this work in the Senate – Senator Richard Lugar and I passed legislation to control loose nuclear and conventional weapons – but there is much more that needs to be done.

Beyond these three challenges, we have to change the way Washington works and break the stranglehold that special interests have held for far too long. This is why I worked with Senator Russ Feingold to enact the most sweeping ethics and lobbying reform legislation since Watergate. It is why I worked with Republican Senator Tom Coburn to pass something called “Google for Government” that would allow all Americans to see how their federal tax dollars are being spent.

But, we must do more to change Washington, and the biggest change will come from other Americans following your lead in communicating with their elected representatives about what they expect of them. If we are to renew our democracy, the process must start with more citizen involvement.

As I have approached these and other issues, I have appreciated the input I have received from Illinoisans like you. While lawmakers and their constituents may hold different perspectives on specific issues, I feel it is particularly important that I hear the views of any Illinois resident who feels strongly about a particular issue.

With that in mind, I appreciate your writing to me. I hope you will stay in touch in the future about other issues of concern to you.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator