Since the end of January, I have been writing almost weekly to Congressman Tom Emmer. I am sharing my most recent one, because I am frustrated with how he is not upholding his oath to the United States constitution nor working with other fellow Republicans to do the same. His newsletters always highlight how he is standing up for his constituents, yet suddenly this has stopped. This is not okay. If you haven’t been impacted yet by the reckless work of Elon Musk (an unelected, private citizen) and his team you surely will soon. Already we are hearing reports of veterans benefits being disrupted, partnerships with farmers—where they put the money for improvements up first—being stiffed by the federal government. And the one that admittedly concerns me most of all—the spread of avian influenza and the crossover into mammals. Without weekly surveillance data and reporting, we farmers are flying blind. We don’t know if it is spreading even more quickly, is infecting new species, and/or is potentially spreading in new ways. If you think eggs and other food is expensive now, just wait until this disease further decimates egg farms, chicken (for meat) farms, turkey farms, dairy farms, and who knows, maybe beef cattle, goats, sheep, and hog farms as well. I want government waste to be rooted out and ended as much as anyone but what we are currently observing is not the way. I am sharing the letter I sent so that others can feel free to use and amplify our voices. I don’t know about you, but this capitulation to an unelected, private citizen is certainly not what I was voting for, when I voted for Tom Emmer.
Hello Congressman Emmer, another week has gone by, and it has been another week of utter cowardice from you and your fellow congressional Republicans. President Trump and his unelected, private citizen Elon Musk and team continue to needlessly disrupt both the lives of federal employees and those such as veterans (including disabled) and farmers who depend on federal programs that have been thrown into chaos and are no longer functioning. I have made an entire career out of process improvement and cutting down on waste (and sometimes uncovering outright fraud). This is NOT how you accomplish that. The people closest to the work ALWAYS have the best solutions to improve efficiency. Congress’ role via power of the purse and the ability to form committees and focus areas should be the ones doing that. Are you still receiving your salary? Because you and your fellow members of Congress most certainly should not. You are the ones not doing your job, you are the ones causing confusion and chaos–which ALWAYS leads to waste and inefficiency. Here is an example: This $2byn contract for Stacy Abrams’ organization that was uncovered? Absolutely sounds sketchy and concerning, but YOU and CONGRESS should have vetted and found it!! –without decimating other agencies and kowtowing to an unelected, private citizen. I shouldn’t have to request this, but here I am doing it again–please honor your oath to the Constitution of the United States and do the job you were elected to do. I think I will start writing to the White House and point out that they should suspend congressional salaries because none of you are doing the work you were elected to do. (And I haven’t even started on the fact that my and my family’s personal data may now be in the hands of people who would sell it on the dark web in a heartbeat, or worse, use it to profile and endanger my family.) Respectfully your constituent,
Theresa Wagner
Maple Lake