Local Congressional offices around the country are experiencing something not seen since the run up to the invasion of Iraq — constituents coming in to personally voice their opposition to what is going on in Washington.

One group, organized by members of The John Birch Society in Virginia's 1st congressional district, paid a visit to Representative Richard Wittman's office in Fredricksburg. Their message was simple: "NO! to the FED plan to bailout out Wall Street." They were also sure to point out that Congress does not have the constitutuional authority to transfer its power of the purse to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Assisant Chapter Leader (and photographer) Dave Silberman had contacted his local congressional office yesterday to let them know they would be coming. When their group arrived this morning, they were escorted into a meeting room where a conference call had been arranged with Richard Wittman's staff in Washington, DC. Mr. Wittman is one of the wavering Republicans inclined to support the bailout plan. But, he is also not a shoe-in for re-election in less than six weeks. 

As was the case with many nervous congressional staffers, Mr. Wittman's could not give a clear answer as to which way their boss was leaning on this history making bill. Many are still waiting to be told what to do, or are holding out to see if they will be one of the lucky ones allowed to vote against this massively unpopular bailout scheme.

Keep the calls, emails and visits going. We know that the servers for congressional websites are having trouble keeping up today. As it was effective for making the case with Mr. Wittman's office, think about getting young adults and children involved in the effort. These are the generations, as well as those yet unborn, that are going to be carrying the burden of this bailout if it is allowed to pass.

Notes:

Latest plan is to have House take up the bailout bill on Saturday (with little to no time for debate) and then have the Senate pass this bill for the President's signing on Sunday.  Stay on your Congressmen and let them know that this is no way to run a representative government. 

If you have photos, videos and good stories of a Congressional office visit to pass on, please contact me (select North Carolina).

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments