WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS
DEMOCRAT
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6
“The Future Can Be Ours.”
480-607-9726
Dear Friend,
The giddy obsession of Rep. David Schweikert and the Gang of 40 House
Republicans to which he belongs with using government shutdowns as a
flawed problem-solving tool could compromise our country’s strength and
ability to act in a time of crisis. The fact that about 800,000 federal
employees were furloughed for about two weeks during the Fall 2013
Shutdown should be cause for concern for those contemplating how they will
cast their vote later on today at the polls in Congressional District 6.
(See my blog “The Future Can Be Ours: Schweikert’s Shutdown Shenanigans,”
Sept. 8, 2014, “What’s News” section, williamsonforuscongress.com).
This past July, the New York Times reported an unsettling development:
“The United States has concluded that Russia violated a landmark arms
control treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile,
according to senior American officials, a finding that was conveyed by
President Obama to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in a letter on
Monday.
“It is the most serious allegation of an arms control treaty violation
that the Obama administration has leveled against Russia and adds another
dispute to a relationship already burdened by tensions over the Kremlin’s
support for separatists in Ukraine and its decision to grant asylum to
Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.” (“U.S.
Says Russia Tested Cruise Missile, Violating Treaty,” by Michael R.
Gordon, New York Times, July 28, 2014, www.nytimes.com).
We are a nation, given the hazards in the world today, that cannot afford
to have 800,000 of our federal government workers disengaged from ensuring
our government runs efficiently. While escapading Tea Baggers like David
Schweikert certainly have the right to initiate a shutdown such as the
ones they engineered in 2011 and 2013, the voters need to take a hard look
at whether this is the kind of behavior that is in the best interests of
not only our economy, but also of our national defense. During the
government shutdown in the Fall of 2013, for example, the IRS agents were
furloughed and were not available to help taxpayers with tax-related
difficulties they were having. If a country’s people cannot receive timely
tax advice from their national tax-collecting agency, a collective
frustration grows that is not conducive to the effective conduct of life
within that country.
If people are distracted by their finances unduly, they cannot pay
attention to whether Russia is testing and possibly deploying medium-range
cruise missiles that could pose a threat to European and American
security. Not that a lot of people are interested in following what the
Russians do with their missile technology. It’s just that the Grover
Norquists and David Schweikert’s of this world are so enthralled with
their fiscal infatuations that they have caused, in my judgment, not only
the voters but elected officials to forget to keep their eye on the ball
of larger concerns that should demand, after a point, more of our
attention.
The New York Times article states further: “The New York Times reported in
January that American officials had informed the NATO allies that Russia
had tested a ground-launched cruise missile, raising serious concerns
about Russia’s compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces
Treaty, or I.N.F. Treaty as it is commonly called….
“In recent months…the issue has been taken up by top-level officials,
including a meeting early this month of the Principals’ Committee, a
cabinet-level body that includes Mr. Obama’s national security adviser,
the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the
secretary of state and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Senior officials said the president’s most senior advisers unanimously
agreed that the test was a serious violation, and the allegation will be
made public soon in the State Department’s annual report on international
compliance with arms control agreements.” (From the same source referenced
above.)
My point is that there are, obviously, big things going on in the world
while the gang of renegade House Republicans that includes David
Schweikert perpetrates a government shutdown that takes the American
people hostage and disrupts American society to the point where our
national debt rating declines and people can’t even go to the Grand Canyon
to find relief for their stresses and problems.
Friend, when I am your congressman, I will not engage in this kind of
irresponsible shutdown behavior that has characterized the modus operandi
of Rep. Schweikert since he has been in office. We’ve got to focus on
other concerns such as health care, food insecurity within District 6
itself, bolstering public education by reinstituting the National Defense
Education Act, and making sure we are using all our public health knowhow
to keep the Ebola virus contained and treated expeditiously, if it occurs
within our borders. Finally, we must not forget that we live, as Thomas
Jefferson knew in 1776, in a cosmopolitan world amongst a cavalcade of
nations we need to respect and work with.
If you would like to contribute financially to my campaign, check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation”
and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, donate to your dedicated
Democratic candidate who will represent your responsibly Democratic values
in Washington. If you’d like to send in a check, the address for that is
also to be found on the “Make a Donation” page on my website.
I’d like to thank not only those who have made a financial contribution to
my campaign, but also those who have volunteered to put up signs, have a
yard sign on your property, distribute flyers or make GOTV phone calls.
You all are a part of this campaign and I deeply appreciate your efforts
and resources.
The Future Will Be Ours if we acknowledge that we must, as a nation, and
as a people, stay extroverted towards the rest of the world not only for
our own protection but also for our own success. We cannot forget that
Russia exists and that we have to keep an eye on what she’s doing. We
should remember the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn who, in his
brilliant novel, ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, told the story of
a zek who had been sent to a labor camp for saying something in a letter
that criticized Joseph Stalin. He was taken prisoner and sent to do hard
labor for a lengthy period of time. Let us not allow ourselves as a nation
to be taken hostage by the Gang of 40 House Republicans of which Rep.
David Schweikert is a member. Let us keep our freedom of movement so that
we don’t have to have them calling the plays of our lives.
Friend, please vote for me, if you have not already, later on today,
whether you are Democrat, Independent, Republican, Green Party, or
Libertarian. I’m a centrist Democrat who will work on your behalf; I
believe in the Democratic process; and I know tomorrow can be a better
day.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John
W. John Williamson
Scottsdale, Arizona