Any Franken workers here? Please reconsider your response

[intheflow]

to my friend Meg.

The Rev. Meg Riley is a Minneapolis resident and contributor to the Huffington Post. Her work as a nationally active interfaith leader has been recognized multiple times in the Congressional Record dating back to at least 1996.*

She recently wrote an Open Letter to Sen. Franken which was published in the MinnPost. I gather this is an alternative Minneapolis paper, or maybe an online journal serving the area. Regardless, it was a published, thoughtful letter by a highly respected liberal Minnesotan asking very specific questions of her elected official.

This is the response she got from Sen Franken's office:

Dear Meg,

Thank you for your kind note. It's always great to hear from Minnesotans, and I appreciate your feedback and support. I encourage you to stay active on issues important to you and to our communities.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at any point in the future. I look forward to continuing to represent you in the months and years ahead.

I think someone dropped the ball responding with such a bland form letter. Anyone have any power to see this gets a second look and a more appropriate response?

Thanks,
intheflow


*The two C.R. entries I found during a quick google search are:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1996-09-12/pdf/CREC-1996-09-12-senate.pdf
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2000-10-26/pdf/CREC-2000-10-26-bk2.pdf



** Edited for grammar.

[Brickbat]

1. MinnPost is a nonprofit online-only news organization that has a lefty lean.

[intheflow]

2. Thanks.

Any comment on the larger content of my post?

[Brickbat]

3. No, I just know about MinnPost and decided to fill you in.

[intheflow]

4. Well, thanks again, then.

:hi:

[Eric J in MN]

5. They didn't have the votes to just extend the Bush tax cuts...

...for incomes under $250,000. There was a Senate vote on that. It didn't get 60.

Arguably, the best policy (apart from politics) would be to let all the Bush tax cuts expire.

But that would have made Obama's re-election more difficult.

[intheflow]

6. Are you speaking as a Franken representative?

:shrug:

[Eric J in MN]

7. No, I'm not a Franken representative.

Here is Al Franken on the bill:

======
A lot of people are unhappy that the president punted on first down, and I'm one of them. Extending the excessive Bush tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires will explode our deficit over the next two years without doing anything to help our economy. I think it's simply bad policy.

But for Minnesota's middle class, struggling to get by in a tough economy, there's a lot in this bill that will really help: tax cuts for working families, a payroll tax holiday, energy tax credits, and the extension of Recovery Act initiatives that are already making a difference.

And for the Minnesotans truly suffering right now -- men, women, and children on the edge of economic disaster -- the alternative is simply unacceptable. If we let Republicans block unemployment benefits, even temporarily, there will be a lot more pain for working families, a lot more homeless kids spending Christmas in a shelter or a car.

If this is the prelude of a permanent extension of the Bush tax breaks for the super-wealthy, we're in big trouble. We'll lose our ability to make the investments we need to grow our way out of long-term budget deficits: education, infrastructure, and research and development. And I am taking the president at his word that he will fight harder to put an end to these wasteful tax breaks in 2012 than he did in 2010.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/the-hardest-vote-ive-take_b_796716.html

======

[loveable liberal]

8. Why Franken? Why not Amykins?

I'm all for contacting your Senators, but for crying out loud what kind of response was expected? A personal note saying .."sorry, had to vote for the things I wanted along with some things I didnt".

[intheflow]

9. Do you understand the difference between

a published open letter and an email or snail mail letter? Do you understand the difference between replying to Joe Schmo Constituent and Josie High Profile Constituent who writes for a national media outlet? Both of those conditions should warrant a deeper reply.

[ISUGRADIA]

10. Josie High Profile Constituent who writes for a national media outlet?

"national media outlet"

Please. She's one of several hundred bloggers at huffington post.

"difference between replying to Joe Schmo Constituent and Josie High Profile Constituent"

Nope, don't go for elitist treatment of people. If you or she did not like the reply, try calling or visiting Franken's office to protest.