Looking Forward to Hurricane, Tornado, and Wildfire Season, Folks? Going Forward You May Be Dealing with Those Monsters and Recovery/Rebuilding By Yourself Thanks to Sequester!

I think Scott is just dealing with reality.  We spend money on things in this nation to keep people safe and help them recover from disaster.  And it seems that most hurricane seasons Florida and large sections of the Southeast (heck even the northeast these days) are smacked with at least one of those fantastic storms, and some of the worst ones find that long finger of land and dance on top of it. before moving on.  The effects of Global Warming just assures more and bigger versions of the amazing storms, and enhanced droughts and wildfires. And the West Coast is still waiting for "The Big One" from the San Andreas fault and some newly discovered faults in Oregon and Washington which could cause deadly Tsunami and often watches huge wildfires ravage their own states in summer and/or fall.  (The LA Area also has some killer faults offshore that could cause massive death from smaller ruptures and resultant tidal waves that could prove very deadly because of concentrated housing and a total lack of attention to the danger by our communities and news media.)

But Sequester means help will be rationed.  So it's likely not the best idea for you or your region, but the GOP Congress members are raising glasses of bubbly to themselves over crippling the government from providing aid in those natural disasters as they cash their large (unsequestered) paychecks and the hidden ones from their billionaire and centi-millionaire backers.

Don't you want to scare them (and any other public official that you want) by threatening to help get them dumped?  Sure you can, but they demand your email be opened to them in return.   That can lead to receiving Karl Rove's talking points in it every morning.  Whether you are left or right you do not want Rove's BS in the email box you actually use as a daily thing. He convinced people to give him hundred of millions of dollars in the last election that were basically wasted. Believe me I've lost an email box or three to political spam.  Now I've picked up an extra box just for that.  Yahoo and other sites pass them out like flapjacks at a little league breakfast.  Pick one up and start talking to your government officials without the blow-back ruining your prime method of Internet communication.

To communicate with your Representatives and Senators go to Thomas.gov.  It's named after Thomas Jefferson, and is  a government website so it's creator isn't going to steal your info and sell it off to a spam-mill right away.  Your Representative and Senators' teams might be a different story, which is why I gave the new email box advice above. Once at thomas.gov  moving down the left column of information you will see links to House of Representatives, Senate, and U.S. Code. See Graphic to the left here.

Let's find your Rep's contact info since it's more complicated.  You know which state you live for a majority of the year and are registered in, right?  That will lead you to your Senators' contacts easily.  

Click on the House of Representatives link and you'll be sent to the page where you can get the ability to call, write, or fax them.  (Be warned, using a fax to contact anyone gives the recipient the right to fax you back.  That can cost you money, and once you open that connection it's hard to break it.) BTW, the pictures above and to the right are clipped from the websites via the Snipping Tool included with Windows 7.  I claim fair use of the resulting graphics by reason that they come from the government's domain and are used to help increase citizens' voices and power in our own government.

Notice that you will need your zipcode.  I assume you know your 5 digit primary code, but you could need your 4 digit extension, too (I do). You can usually find that on a bill, or bank statement mailing, but if that is not available to you right now, go to USPS. and click on "Look Up a Zipcode" as seen on the graphic to the left.  A box will open for you to enter your address, city and state.  You can add your 5 digit primary zipcode as well if you know it, but it's not necessary, unless you're not sure of the city you live in (it can be confusing if you live near the border between two of them).  Then, when they show you the zipcode with the 4 digit extension, you can use that to find your Rep and a means by which to contact the staff, who will relate your conversation somehow to your Congress member.

Be sure to tell them you want the sequester ended immediately.  You, like I thought that Congress; having dealt with other crises this year with predated bickering and then sudden resolve would do that same this time; but now that they are actually ready to burn the house down you are not going to sit and wait for them anymore.  Tell them to resolve the issue, now and make sure our "entitlements" (which this blog shows we the people pay for  here) and have their fat cat backers pay a little more if more money is needed.  Ever since Reagan cut their taxes in half the fat cats have been taking our jobs overseas and earning even more tax cuts for that job.  They've been walking away with everything and that has to stop. We the people are going to make sure our Congress works for us from now on, and that means, for starters ending this sequester NOW, and in our favor if they want to keep their jobs.  Sign your email, or mail as,  or tell the staff on the phone this is their boss's boss, YOU!

Tell those who want to cut your help from FEMA and the National Guard through Sequester Obstinacy that they have a special place on your political dart board,  and it's not the target of your money or your support.  Tell them to get off their duffs and earn the fat paychecks our government hands them or you'll start pushing to cut it, or eliminate it altogether by getting someone else in their seat.

Believe me-- it will help, if enough people burn their ears  with it (using your own words).  So tell your friends to do the same, because a natural disaster without FEMA, the National Guard, and/or recovery aid is a terrible thing to face.  Those of us who don't live in hurricane ravaged areas don't know and can't imagine what it's like, and I'm sure it's the same for wildfires, tornadoes, or even earthquakes.  And if people in the Mid West complain tell them that makes you a lot less in favor of their farm and drought aid.  If they support cutting your help, then we'll push for cutting theirs.  What's fair is fair.

I believe that the right have exhausted their sources of spam for Congress.  I figure, if everyone who reads this contacts their Rep and Senators that will create an upwelling in understanding among their privileged er "offices" that their future in their current cushy Congressional seats are at stake, and they can't get elected by just their campaign donations, but must depend on their constituents continuing to vote for them.

Don't face conditions like in the picture below alone while the Romney class jets between multiple mansions with double decker garages and car elevators.

Picture above used via Creative Commons License Attribution (CC by 2.0) thanks to Flickr user Florida Keys--Public Libraries which has no connection to this blog or blogger.

A good short URL for this post is: http://x.co/wDRt Actually it's not as necessary for Twitter anymore, but sometimes it can be useful.