20 January
Dear Tammy Duckworth,
I am writing to say what a great honor it has been to live as your constituent for the last 8 years. You are a dedicated servant to the country and Illinois as a whole. I can always take pride in knowing I've helped you remain in office, even if I'm just a single vote!
My goal in writing to you today is one of seeking hope where it feels little remains. Any American that is active in political discussions can see the bad spiraling path we are heading down with a GOP party that seems happy to take the mantle of authoritarian policy meant only for the rich. My ask of you is simple, what is happening behind closed doors that could bring us hope that we remain a free and democratic nation? I ask because there seems to be little hope left for many citizens, especially those who lean left. We see everyday where "red" states pass legislation that makes it harder to vote, especially for minorities. We watch everyday as "red" election clerks toss out voter registrations on a whim. We watch as good policy is sent to die by Senators Sinema and Manchin. We watch as President Biden talks about restarting student loans instead of forgiving them.
I'm 34 years old. I've seen the cycle play out. Republicans win, send the country into massive debt, the Democrats then win, do a bare minimum, and proceed to lose. Rinse and repeat. So my next question is, why must we continue this cycle? Why must we watch as democrats seem to care more about fundraising off the fear of the GOP than they do about passing legislation that could help millions? What kind of pressure can be exerted on the two senators that seem hell bent on tanking any good legislation that stops us from becoming a right wing authoritarian nation? How can we as citizens trust the party that promises student debt forgiveness while taking money from big banks?
I truly hope that you and your fellow congress-people, especially the democrats, can internalize and understand the frustration citizens feel as we are given a choice between wealthy, corrupt politicians that speak but don't act, and wealthy, corrupt politicians that wish to see half the nation removed from the voting roles for disagreeing. It is a terrible choice of the lesser evils. I truly hope that senators such as yourself that seem to have integrity left can work with your colleagues to realize that when the dam of oppression, greed, and wealth hoarding eventually breaks you will suffer far worse consequences from the masses than you would from simply giving up a few extra million lobby dollars to do the right thing.
I implore you, please, please look at the suffering of millions of Americans that feel forced to rest their hopes on you and your party members to help stop the seemingly endless upward flow of wealth. Please take the time to truly self-reflect on whether an extra million from that big bank is worth the continued poverty of millions of Americans.
In closing, the simple ask is, please be the best person you can be, not the best politician. I appreciate all you have done over the years, but I truly hope you can internalize the frustrations of everyday Americans such as myself that are watching our country spiral into oblivion with barely a dim light at the end of the tunnel. The hope and change of 2008 is left as despair and depression for many, many Americans.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and I do hope we can have a meaningful, and insightful conversation. I look forward to continuing to be able to vote for you in the future.
Chris Damm
Chris Damm