WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

As a member of the so-called “Gang of 40,” Rep. David Schweikert backed the
government shutdown last October that cost the American taxpayers $1.6
billion in one week alone. (“Gang of 40,” Nicholas Kristoff, New York
Times, October 10, 2013.) The ironic thing is that “The G.O.P. claims to
be the party particularly concerned by budget deficits.” (ibid.)

This group of 40 hard-core Republicans held our nation hostage for 16 days
because they did not want to fund the Affordable Care Act, which had
become law in March of 2010 and now is helping millions of people to have
adequate health insurance coverage.

“’The three weeks of government shutdown will cost the economy $3.1
billion in gross domestic product from lost government services,’
estimated Paul Edelstein and Doug Handler of IHS Global Insight, an
economic research firm. ‘There will also be some impact from lost
private-sector jobs tied to the shutdown, as well as a loss of consumer
and business confidence resulting from the debt-ceiling showdown.'”
(“Shutdown to Cost U.S. Billions, Analysts Say, Eroding Confidence,” Annie
Lowrey and Michael D. Shear, New York Times, October 18, 2013.) For
example, “The government has lost out on millions of dollars that would
have been spent at shuttered parks, caves, monuments and museums, for
instance, with the National Park Service putting its toll at $450,000 a
day.” (Ibid.)

“Information about the shutdown’s effect on national parks came as
Interior released a report indicating that national parks generated
$26.8bn in economic activity in 2012 and supported 243,000 jobs.”…”Five
states, including California and Arizona, lost more than $20m each during
the government shutdown last October…” (“US national parks lost $414m in
visitor spending during government shutdown,” theguardian.com, 4 March
2014.)

The number of staff and concession employees who reside in Grand Canyon
National Park during the peak months is 3,500.
(www.nationalparkstraveler.com.) The government shutdown lasted 16 days.
Arizona paid “the National Park Service $651,000 to keep the Grand Canyon
open for seven days.” (“Government shutdown defied: Grand Canyon reopens,
for a week,” Felicia Fonseca, csmonitor.com, October 12, 2013.)

In 2010, Rep. Schweikert’s estimated wealth was $6.2 million. He is a real
estate investor. (washingtonpost.com.)

While the 3,500 workers at Grand Canyon National Park were unemployed for
nine days, I doubt that Rep. Schweikert had to worry about whether he’d be
able to buy his groceries, make his mortgage payment, or pay a critical
medical bill. He even told NPR the shutdown was “my idea of fun.”
(theweek.com, October 16, 2013.) In fairness, some people think he was
really saying that being on NPR was his idea of fun. Nonetheless, to talk
about having fun while about 800,000 federal employees were barred from
working seems bizarrely insensitive and absurd. (op. cit. Lowrey and
Shear.)

After I am elected your congressman on Nov. 4th, I will not, during my
term of service, engage in political joyrides with a group of folks
holding our nation of over 300,000,000 people hostage because a bill I
didn’t agree with had become law. I will have the wisdom, I hope, to know
when to suck it up and move on.

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, check out my website at
williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation” and, by means
of safe and secure PayPal, stand by your Democratic candidate in CD6. You
may contribute to my campaign even if you live in another district or
another state. We need money for signs, business cards, and TV
commercials. Even a humble amount is helpful.

The Future Can Be Ours by showing consideration to working people and not
holding their jobs hostage because we did not get our way. That’s what the
Gang of 40, of which Rep. David Schweikert was an outspoken part, did last
October when they shut the government down for 16 days. As a man who, in
2010, was worth $6.2 million, Rep. Schweikert probably didn’t suffer too
much, though 800,000 federal employees had their lives disrupted. And
3,500 workers at Grand Canyon National Park wondered, for nine days, how
they were going to put food on the table and pay their bills.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Candidate for U.S. Congress, CD6

Scottsdale, Arizona