My response to his letter above:

Non-representing Representative Gordon,

Don’t call me a “friend”! I am no friend of yours. I will do EVERYTHING in my power to see you ARE NOT REELECTED!!!!!!

I call you a TRAITOR to the American people. You and your “friends” in Washington have doomed America.

There is not an ounce of truth in your statements!

[“I have given this legislation a lot of thought"]
I would like to know how this is possible since the legislation was just handed to you this morning and contains over 1300 pages, 300 of which were added at 4:00 am this morning!!

["Oil prices are rising, and working families are already paying more than they can afford on gas. The United States imports over 60 percent of the oil we consume, making our national security and economy increasingly vulnerable to unfriendly regimes and terrorist threats. ACES will put us on the road to energy independence by driving the development of home-grown fuels and reducing our consumption of foreign oil. We'll no longer be hostage to the gas price spikes that have become a summer."]
Here’s an idea… LETS START DRILLING FOR OUR OWN OIL.

["Meanwhile, our region is hemorrhaging jobs overseas."]
Hmm.. do you think it could be because of all the BULLSHIT legislation that comes out of Washington is the cause????

["Supreme Court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act."]
This statement shows just how screwed up our country is. Where in our Constitution does the Supreme Court have the power to “make” laws??

["I take seriously your concerns about this legislation."]
SOMEHOW I DON'T BELIEVE YOU.

["Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future if I may be of assistance to you or your family."]
Do us a favor and resign now so we won’t have to vote you out of office.

LEST YOU FORGET, YOU REPRESENT US!!! WE ELECTED YOU TO REPRESENT US, NOT TO DO WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST!!!

Sincerely,

Here is a response letter from my Representative Bart Gordon of TN and my reply to him. My wife made me take out the profanity. LOL

Dear Friend,

Thank you for sharing your concerns about H.R. 2454 the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

I have given this legislation a lot of thought. Although it is not perfect, I am convinced this bill is not only good for working families in Middle Tennessee, but vital to our region's economic future. This is just the start of the legislative process that will allow more review and an opportunity to improve the bill. The merits of this legislation have been heavily distorted, and I want to take this opportunity to lay out the truth behind the bill and help you understand how I reached my decision.

In 2007 the Supreme Court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. If Congress does not act on the issue, the EPA is required to act, and will do so in a way that is less likely to take into account the individual challenges each region of the country faces. The Senate drafted several bills in response to this mandated action to solve the CO2 problem, but I believe their bills were impractical. The Senate bills produced cost estimates from $1,000 to $3,000 a year per household. These costs are unacceptable.

ACES is different. Energy companies, environmental groups, and business groups all had a seat at the table to negotiate this bill. After taking into account the challenges the country was facing and the comments and concerns of these groups, the Energy and Commerce Committee wrote a bill that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (the same group that reported the costs of the Senate bills) says will cost $175 a year for families at its height in 2020 or about $15 a month. These costs will be more than offset by the savings in energy efficiency each household will achieve annually, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will be created.

I hear all the time from Tennesseans who are upset about high utility bills As Chair of House Science and Technology Committee I've heard from experts and studied the issue to see what relief can be provided. For example, I learned that a significant amount of our monthly electrical bills goes to energy we're not even using. Because of inefficiencies in the 50-year old electric grid, some energy doesn't make it into our homes, while the energy that does is often used inefficiently. This bill upgrades the grid, an action expected to save 7% on utility bills.

This is not just a climate bill. This is a jobs and energy independence bill. The 6th District is projected to gain more than 4500 jobs directly because of this legislation. These jobs aren't all engineers and scientists. Half of these new jobs will be blue-collar, manufacturing jobs that do not require a high school diploma. Tennessee is hurting right now. Our unemployment rate is more than 10% statewide. The fact of the matter is, a lot of the jobs we've lost are not coming back and we've got to think outside the box if we're going to revive our manufacturing sector.

China is now the world's leading exporter of wind technology, and they continue to invest heavily in green jobs. Meanwhile, our region is hemorrhaging jobs overseas. If we give up this industrial sector to foreign business, we will never regain leadership in this arena. The cost of inaction is that we will be purchasing these technologies from foreign plants and employing foreign workers. Tennessee will soon be home to 3 billion-dollar solar plants. Nissan recently announced a two billion-dollar investment in electric vehicle manufacturing at its Smyrna plant. Make no mistake, Tennessee is a green jobs state, and the jobs ACES creates will be Tennessee jobs. We'll need everything from mechanics to build wind turbines, to truck drivers to transport products, to carpenters to install solar panels for these jobs.

Oil prices are rising, and working families are already paying more than they can afford on gas. The United States imports over 60 percent of the oil we consume, making our national security and economy increasingly vulnerable to unfriendly regimes and terrorist threats. ACES will put us on the road to energy independence by driving the development of home-grown fuels and reducing our consumption of foreign oil. We'll no longer be hostage to the gas price spikes that have become a summer tradition.

I take seriously your concerns about this legislation. At the end of the day though, I believe the need to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, the need to create green energy jobs, and the need to mitigate climate change required moving the process forward for the benefit of the working families of Tennessee. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future if I may be of assistance to you or your family.

Stay in touch,
BART GORDON
Member of Congress

CONT.....

Well I tried Opera and Foxfire and both said my comments were too long. I will try breaking my post into multiple comments. Thanks for your help.

Thanks!!! I have Opera installed as well as IE. I will give that a whirl! :)

I really dislike this website and the way comments are handled!! (This is the place to vent... right?)

Could someone please tell me how to post a LONG message??

Thanks in advance. :)

Unfortunately we will never go back to the gold standard. Governments want to spend more money than they have, therefore they must be off a gold standard. The gold standard limits the amount of money they can spend.

I would like to recommend an EXCELLENT book on economics FOR KIDS (and adults).
"Whatever happened to penny candy" by Richard J. Maybury

http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Happened-Explanati...

First of all nothing in our Constitution states we need to "share" our dollars. Taxation is taking by force... not sharing! Sharing is when I WILLING give something away. That's the problem with you liberals; you think that you have a right to my hard earned money. If you want to share your money... go ahead, no one is stopping you, but KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY MONEY!!

Secondly who are you complaining about taking your dollar, the Federal Government or the smart, hard working individuals that took a risk and started a business AND THEN EMPLOYED OTHERS so they would have a job? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "taking" your dollar.

Fisk202,

Obviously you were recently educated in the public school system. It's a wonder you can read at all and I mean that in all sincerity.

If you were so inclined you could do a search on the Internet and find massive studies conducted by several States that indicate home schooled children consistently score higher than public school children, across all age groups.

Let's think this through logically. Which is a better teacher to student ratio? 1:30 or 1:1? Who has more interest in the welfare of their children? Teachers or Parents? Who can better discipline the children? Teachers or Parents?

I'm willing to bet you don't even have children. I am note even going to waste my breath discussing indoctrination of our children, rewriting history, teenage pregnacies, handing out condoms, etc. etc. Get a clue bud, the public school system of today sucks!

Wrong about what? That our country is rapidly heading toward COMMUNISM. That there may come a time we need to overthrow our government? I am not advocating revolt. I am merely stating that it MAY come to that AND IF it does, then it is our duty to stand up and fight our "duly" elected government.

I think King George III was duly "appointed" through his bloodlines, but that doesn't mean he was right, YOU TORY! I agree the majority (of brainwashed indoctrinated sheep) elected Obama, but what was their other choice? John McCain. He hardly qualifies as second choice. Was it any surprise Obama won?

This is NOT about Obama and his administration. I think George W. Bush was a terrible president. It is NOT about Left vs. Right. It is about FREEDOM and the loss of our freedoms. Mark my words, there will shortly come a day when guns and Bibles are outlawed. (If you look at guns sales it would seem I'm not the only one who feels this way)

So there we have it. I am willing to fight and die if necessary to preserve the freedoms we have. Freedoms given by GOD, which cannot be taken away by man.

I tend to agree with SargeE5. I consider myself a patriotic American and strongly believe in the Constitution AND Declaration of Independence. Let me quote a portion of the Declaration;

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. "

It is our right, OUR DUTY to throw off such Governments! This is not to be done hasitly or without thought, but the time is coming. Pray that our land is healed before this happens. I know I am.