Letter To My Ohio Rep

If you feel like sending an email to your representative* please feel free to copy and/or amend:

QUOTE

Dear Representative _____

As a constituent of yours, I urge you to vote against the House counterpart of SB 5.

First - those bills combine a large number of different legislative initiatives, which the Republican Party promised us in last fall's "Pledge to America" it would not do.

"Advance Legislative Issues One at a Time

"We will end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with “must-pass” legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time."

(Pledge To America, pdf version, page 33)

I urge you and the other Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives honor that simple and important promise to the American people and the people of Ohio.

Second, as a Christian I accept the teaching of so many denominations and religious groups which support collective bargaining. They include:

National Council of Churches

Northern Baptist Convention

Catholic Church —LEO XII

United Methodist Church

Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

The Episcopal Church

United Lutheran Church In America

The Disciples of Christ

The United Church of Christ

Church of the Brethren

Central Conference of American Rabbis

See: http://www.awppw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=7

Third, squashing unions is not the answer to our state's fiscal problems.

If we are going to act fiscally responsibly, we need to encourage and develop good paying jobs with benefits, not eliminate them where ever and when ever possible.

I believe that fiscal responsibility requires us to not only look only at expenses, but also makes the hard but responsible decision to reject repeated reductions of revenues through tax cuts.

Please remember, Ronald Reagan raised taxes several times - calling them "revenue enhancements" - when fiscal responsibility required additional revenue.

I believe that true "Reagan Republicans" put fiscal responsibility ahead of popular yet irresponsible repeated tax cuts.

Fourth, please remember that this is a very important issue, and in the next election, the people of Ohio will remember who voted for ending public sector collective bargaining and who supported the working people of Ohio.

Both political parties are capable of misunderstanding the "mandate" they receive in elections.

I believe that, this time, the Republicans have badly miscalculated the values and views of the people of Ohio and the people around the nation.

Please ask yourself which is more important to you: party loyalty or representation of the will of the people.

Respectfully,

Name

Address

======

* Find your Ohio representative