Signed a petition this morning online through PDA to ask the super committee to save a trillion dollars by fixing Medicare Part D. The change requested would allow the Feds to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma instead of the current model. I haven’t studied this hard, but you don’t have to study much to know that the ability to negotiate prices is a good idea. It’s kind of free market stuff, isn’t it? Doesn’t the right love the power of the free market? Let’s see how far this thing goes. Senator Kyl has jumped off talking about savings from attacking Medicare fraud, but the CBO guy told him point blank, this approach does not address the deficit and tax changes needed. 
I also responded to a request from the FCNL – Friends (quakers) Committee on National Legislation and sent the following letter to my Senator, Patty Murray:
I live in Chehalis, Wa and have been pleased to have you as my Senator.
In my lifetime I have watched the tax table leveled and it has had disastrous effects on the US economy and US politics. The well-to-do, the middle class, and the poor continue to pay their fair share. The “haves” and “have mores” as George Bush called them have had their tax burden greatly relieved and now we face a budget deficit that is a pretext for cutting essential government services that are important to the majority of Americans, but mean little or nothing to the have mores.
In addition to the tax structure tilted to the rich, there is a question of war profiteering and the failure to raise taxes to pay when this country goes to war as it has done too quickly in this century.
The Pentagon budget has doubled in the last 10 years–without even counting what our country has spent on the two wars. It now amounts to more than half of the money Congress appropriates to federal programs each year.
But the main problem is falling revenues and that related directly to the tax hatred and demagogery. A steep tax structure promotes investment in infrastructure, jobs and factories instead of second, third, and fourth homes for the captains of industry.
You are in a very difficult position. It seems you are the only woman on the Super Committee and perhaps this country’s needs more matriotism and less patriotism to turn it around. I send my thoughts to you with the prayer that you will stand larger than a single person on this committee and that you may turn the country in a new direction from your position.
Be strong, be well. Do wonderful things.
Sincerely,
I don’t have much time for this email activism, but I took a minute this morning. I am generally more directly involved in political action. I spend more time making signs and materials and engaging in political action than I do sending signing online petitions pleading for change in public policy. But I took a couple of minutes for this stuff this morning, mainly because FCNL asked me to take a minute.
The Friends, the Quakers, were the folks who ran the underground railroad moving enslaved humans to freedom when slavery was legal in part of our country. They probably wrote letters and signed petitions as well, but some of the friends of that era believed action was required.
We stand on the shoulders of giants. Will we stand? Do we stand for anything?
Which side are you on, boys and girls?
Be strong, be well, DO wonderful things.
I too have long wondered about the effectiveness of clicktivism. I read that many politicians consider online petitions to be of low value. I suspect that some petitions are just gimmicks to mine contact info.
Still, the cause is worthy.
BTW, when you say, “The well-to-do, the middle class, and the poor continue to pay their fair share,” it’s confusing, because the “well-to-do” usually includes the super-rich, as well as the rich.
Not sure how to identify in a quick phrase the folks who are not the beneficiaries of the current federal ponzi scheme. I tend to think that if all of a person’s income is subject to the Social Security withholding tax, then you are one of the patsies, because significant tax relief starts to accrue once you are making money that is not subject to this tax. Folks who are making $106,800 (current ceiling of fica tax) don’t seem to fit into the category of working class. I could break along population quadrants and id the lower four quadrants, but I think that the real benefits in the current US economic scheme are aimed at a smaller group than the top 20%. I don’t know how we get the comfortable, the earners with household income of $250K and less, to feel concern about the state of things, but I think they should be concerned, they are just hanging out on the upper deck of a ship that is taking on water.