The Constituent and The Senator

This is the same kind of bullshit response I get to my inquiries ... and I contributed enough to her campaign through PACs to buy a new car. I guess you have to be an insurance company executive to get personal attention.

I have written/emailed to Hagan, Burr, and Etheridge and received form letters from them all. The letter posted on dailykos.com was the exact same one I received from her. Burr sent me a 2 page (front & back of 1 page) letter in response to my email. I am sick of getting form letters in response to a very heartfelt letter that I wrote to them about my family's story and how strongly I feel that Health Care Reform to include a National Public Health Plan is required. I called Hagans office to make an appointment to see her and was told that I would have to email her staff person to do so. I called Etheridges office, spoke to a very nice woman who agreed with my views, and was told that he would be holding meetings in the individual counties and I would be called. Instead, I received a call last night on my voicemail of a live teleconference where Etheridge was discussing Health Care Reform and taking questions. No notice, no advance warning of "hey, we're going to call you on 8/11/9 @ 6:30pm so make sure you are there and able to answer". I caught the first 5 minutes of it before the voicemail shut off.

I will keep trying to get our voices heard and make appointments but it is beyond frustrating.

I get the same immediate "Thanks for contacting me" email from Senator Hagan's web site or email anytime I send something.

Later, I also get a more specific (though still vague) response to the topic I emailed/web formed about.

The best response I've seen to constituent contacts was former Senator John Warner (R-Virginia). His office had form letters for any type of topic, and you got one within a couple of weeks of your email/letter. He often didn't agree with what I said, but the staff had a form letter that was on topic and specifically described Senator Warner's involved in the topic (co-sponsoring an alternate bill, sitting on the committee of jurisdiction, opposing my view and citing consititional/philospical reasons why).

In my opinion, Hagan (and others) should model their constituent comment response on John Warner's.

That being said, the automatic "Thanks for contacting me" email shouldn't be cause for rebellion. It's an acknowledgement of receipt, not a response to the question/comment.

is it normal for a newby Senator to be assigned such a position (finance committee) so early in their career?

You are right. I confused it with the HELP committee. My bad.

Receiving the form letters makes me wonder if they actually read our letters and pay attention to what we say. Do we really have a voice to them? I know the President has an entire staff that reads the letters and emails and chooses 10 per day to give to him to read and he does respond personally. I received a personal note from the President which means a great deal to me and lets me know that he is listening. I just don't know about our other elected officials. The only state or federal government official that has actually bothered to personally respond, have a conversation, and let me know that he has heard me and listened to me is Senator Doug Berger.

I did not support Kay in the Primary election.
I supported Jim Neal.
After Kay won the primary, I went out 100% for Kay and did what I could for her in the 3rd District of NC.
Kay never said she was not a conservative. In fact, if one ever spoke to her privately, she always indicated that she was very conservative.

I once had the honor of sharing breakfast with Kay when she came to Jacksonville to speak at a breakfast on the dame day Hillary Clinton came to Jacksonville. Needless to say, the breakfast consisted of Kay and an audiance of one. Me.

I was a candidate for Congress at the time and she asked me why I was backing Jim in the Primary election. I told her I thought her politics to be way to far to the right for me. She agreed that she was somewhat conservative. She was open and honest about that point.

We progressives were hoping that Kay would become somebody she never professed to be.

We Progressives were hoping that she would begin to believe things she never professed to believe.

We have only ourselves to blame for Kays primary victory.

Kay is now one of those who oppose Health Care for Every American thorugh a public option.
She never pretended to be anyone other than who she is.

She is still our Senator. We just have to fight a little harder to persuade her to do the "best" thing for N.C.. She already knows how to do the "Right" thing. She told us that over and over again. We just were not listening. Her positon on Iraq, supporting President Bush, was a dead give away.

She has not betrayed we Progressives. We betrayed ourselves.

I guess it's too late to say "Jim Neal" for Senate.

I called Senator Hagan's office to request to schedule an appointment to speak with her about Health Care Reform and was told that I had to email her scheduling assistant. I did that and received a nice response saying that there were no appointments available but if one did become available then she would let me know. I responded with a brief 1 paragraph note sharing our family story of: "I am married and have a small sole proprietor non employer business. My husband and I have 3 children with Cystic Fibrosis, 1 child with a Brain Injury caused by a drunk driver, and 1 healthy child. We have made significant sacrifices to ensure that our 4 children with special health care needs qualify for Medicaid because private insurance is completely unaffordable due to their conditions. My husband, I, and our healthy child are uninsured and can’t afford private insurance due to cost nor can we qualify for public health programs. I have been sick for a year and a half and just recently was able to obtain minimal health care through Volunteers in Medicine. My condition is rapidly deteriorating because I can’t afford health care. I am sharing this information to stress to you the importance of supporting Health Care Reform to include a National Public Health Plan option. Please support Health Care Reform to include a National Public Health Plan option. For some people, like myself, it is a matter of saving lives and helping families survive." I asked her to forward the information to Senator Hagan's Health Policy Advisor.

I just received a call from Senator Hagan's Health Policy Advisor to inform me that she will be forwarding my comments to her office in Washington to share before the vote. She also suggested that I contact NC Care Line for referrals to resources. She was very nice and sympathetic so I am really hoping that she meant what she said and that our story will help persuade Senator Hagan and our other elected officals to pass Health Care Reform to include a Public Health Plan. I have called the NC Care Line before, there are resources available for those that earn up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Rate. I have yet to find anything that would help us upper poor to lower middle class families. I will contact the NC Care Line and mention that Senator Hagan's office told me to call them to see if anything changes but I seriously doubt it will matter.