"Politics of the possible"
Tuesday, September 1, my SO and I had a face to face meeting with our congresscritter, Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
I had emailed her office last week, asking to set up a meeting. They called me Monday, said she'd had cancellations, could I come the next afternoon for a ten minute meeting. Of course I said yes - I'm unemployed, and live a few blocks away, but even if I'd been working I would have taken time off.
Knowing full well that ten minutes just wouldn't be enough to cover all of the issues I was concerned with, I typed up a list - my own words, the real concerns I had.
At the top of that list was healthcare. Then came GLBT issues. Then economy and finance, and more.
We brought copies, one for us, one for Zoe, one for her aides.
Yes, she has to be diplomatic, she has to negotiate with the rest of the House. She declined to comment on my sentiment that Grassley and Baucus were a waste of space. I felt like she was trying not to chuckle.
But I also felt that she needed to hear from the little people - the working (or unemployed) person, the woman trying to start a small consulting business, the people paying the highest tax rates when working because they're gay, childfree renters without tax shelters.
If people like me are willing to fork over for singlepayer, or at least a strong public option, then the rest of the contry can give up a little for the assurance that they and their children will have healthcare regardless of their economic circumstance.
She agreed with me on the GLBT items, talked about trying to get some of the more strident religious folks to see how gay marriage really isn't a threat to their religious freedom.
She told me, she has to be diplomatic, but as an activist, I don't.
Activists and advocates don't need to put their positions in terms of compromise, and we shouldn't.
The right wing knows this, and is ready to fling shit.
We need to push, and hard. We need to let our congresspeople know what we need.
Believe me, Rep Lofgren will be seeing me again. I'll be keeping track, and there will be praise given or questions asked.
Your Reps work for you. Make the time to go see them. Write down your concerns, so they have stuff to take back to Washington with them.
