I recently wrote to my Congresswoman and raised two issues for now: trade deficits and illegal immigration. I specifically asked for proposed strategies to address these two issues. Attached is the response I received.
No Proposed Trade Policy
A few things you might notice about the response. First, the Congresswoman is long on criticism of the Administration and short on solutions. She offers various critiques of the Administration’s tariff rollout – some of which I agree with – but she does not offer any alternative strategy. The Congresswoman acknowledges that tariffs can be a useful tool but never explains how. She claims we need a “focused strategy” for amending the USMCA (the successor to NAFTA) but does not offer such a strategy. Digging deeper, I reviewed the “Issues” page on the Congresswoman’s website, and I could not find a proposed strategy for deploying tariffs or amending the USMCA. Swing and a miss. Strike one.
No Proposed Solution On China
The second thing you might notice is that while she mentions China, there is no real discussion of what we ought to be doing with China. This is the elephant in the room when it comes to trade. The Congresswoman’s Issues page on her website similarly offers no strategy for dealing with China. Swing and a miss. Strike two.
No Mention Of Immigration
The third thing you might notice is that the Congresswoman does not deign to mention illegal immigration. I waited several days to see if there might be a separate response coming. Nope. Nothing. Again, I reviewed the Congresswoman’s Issues page on her website and could not find any mention of illegal immigration. The Congresswoman did not even get the bat off her shoulder on this pitch. Fast ball down the middle for a called third strike.
What The Congresswoman Is Doing Is Not Good Enough
We live in serious times, friends. We face serious issues that require serious solutions from serious people. In the absence of a better idea, we are left with the only idea being offered. Many of the issues facing our country call for a legislative solution. Saving that, the Administration will continue lapping the field issuing Executive Orders at breakneck speed, while our legislators are still lacing up their running shoes. Congress is feckless. Congress is abdicating its constitutional responsibility to serve as the policymaking body in our government and to provide a check on Executive power. Hardly any of our legislators deserve our votes. We should hold them to account.
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