Some Duty

by paradox

Dear Senator Harkin,

Please excuse the personal format, sir, but I’ll publish this soon after I complete it (I blog for The Left Coaster) and the stark display of my personal address in the to and from slots presents issues, thank you for your understanding.

It came to my attention far too late, via Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, that you were the Senate legislative champion for student loan reform in our recent exercise of Democratic Party catherding, passing urgently needed help for our young people along with healthcare reform in the reconciliation process.

Thank you. As a people it is so vitally important our young people have something to immediately grasp as they look forward to the future with optimism, so making it easier to finance an advanced education was and is a critically needed role for the federal government in these times of great recession.

My own education path was meandering in nature, to put it charitably, so when I did truly become focused the Federal help I received at the time was vitally sustaining. Life can be difficult, having a background fact of existence that the government of the United States is on your side is a great thing for a struggling young person.

Please put me on your contribution email list, in your next election cycle I will be there in my small way.

My glowing happiness at help for the little people, however, is tempered by dismay on three levels. First and foremost is that you were alone in a DC process here, that your people in the netroots were not with you to help is totally unacceptable. We would have instantly done anything to help if only someone had asked us.

Second is that healthcare passage completely overshadowed the shining accomplishment of how government should work, the banks taking it on the chin heavenly icing on the cake. I hope the Party uses the obvious political tools fabricated here in the Fall campaigns.

Last is the fact reconciliation had to be used at all because of clowning Senatorial obstructionism. Brother Atrios of Eschaton recently perfectly captured the Senate reputation to the public at large: a bunch of impetuous children who, all by the dint of their appalling individual arrogance, can stamp their feet and shut down any process of the government if they so choose. The recent odious evolutions of removing the Medicare buy-in and stopping unemployment benefits should be obvious examples of this constant dismaying Senatorial dysfunctionality, I hope legislative norms in the Senate evolve drastically as soon as possible.

Be that as it may passing student loan reform still gives me happy squirms on this fine Spring day, something rather rare in my caffeine-jacked evolutions of blogging. Thank you, Senator Harkin, please be well, thank you for implementing your duty to the little people.

Respectfully,

paradox

http://www.theleftcoaster.com