As I have said before, I take the time to write to my federal and state legislators to express my views on issues. Sometimes they respond, sometimes they don't, but even if I get no response, or if the response is an obvious canned position paper, I will continue to write them. Here is a response from Senator Casey on his votes and explanations of his position:

Dear ,

Many of you have contacted my office to express your thoughts and concerns with some of President Trump's cabinet nominees. Thank you for taking the time to do so. After deliberations, hearings, and review of all available paperwork, I want to share with you my decisions on some of President Trump's key cabinet nominations:

Betsy DeVos
Ms. DeVos has no experience in public education and the education work she has done is centered upon pursuing efforts to undermine and privatize public schools. Ms. DeVos would take public education in our nation backward and make it harder for public school students in Pennsylvania to achieve their potential. I will vote against her nomination.
Jeff Sessions
On the critically important issue of voting rights, we have a fundamental disagreement on legislation to protect these voting rights. Senator Sessions celebrated the decision, which gutted the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that certain states and jurisdictions with histories of discrimination seek preclearance from the federal government before changing voting rules. After reviewing his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, his Senate record, his record as a prosecutor and meeting with him, I will vote against his nomination to be our next Attorney General.
Scott Pruitt
Mr. Pruitt’s record is clear: he fought to dismantle the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, anti-pollution programs that target ozone and mercury in the air, the agreement to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed and denied the science of climate change. On behalf of the children of Pennsylvania, who deserve clean water to drink, clean air to breathe and action on climate change, I will vote against Mr. Pruitt’s nomination.
General James Mattis and General John Kelly
Last week, I voted in favor of President Trump’s nominees for the Department of Defense, General James Mattis, and the Department of Homeland Security, General John Kelly. Generals Mattis and Kelly have both had distinguished military careers. They have made substantial sacrifices for our nation and are qualified to lead the departments for which they are nominated. "I intend to press the Trump Administration and Secretary Kelly to keep in place protections for ‘dreamers,’ those immigrants who were brought to the country by their parents as young children. These children deserve humane treatment and a fair shot at the American dream.
I will continue to review President Trump's remaining nominees and will announce my decisions shortly. Please visit my website for the latest.

Sincerely,

Bob Casey



Aside from the fact that my feelings about Betsy DeVoid . . . Errrrr, I mean DeVos, Jeff Sessions, and Scott Pruitt, are basically the same as Casey's, I appreciate receiving this sort of information from my elected representatives. I wish they all followed the same sort of informative messaging to constituents about issues that concern them.

Last edited by Rongone (1/25/2017 12:52 pm)