Musings on Life and Living

[NOTE: This is an email I sent to my United States Representative, Rodney Davis, regarding President Donald Trump's budget proposal.] Dear Representative Davis: I've been reading through Pres. Trump's budget proposal and I am just getting angrier and angrier. I am a fiscal conservative who believes strongly in a smaller, smarter, more efficient federal government that returns power to local and state governments and clears a path for non-governmental organizations to make lasting, sustainable changes in our communities. The problem I have with this budget is simple: it doesn't do any of these things. It will not result in a more efficient government, it will result in just confusion. It will not empower state and local governments, it will harm them by removing resources and support. It won't clear a path for NGOs, it will make it more complicated. Here is one example that I directly impacts our community in the 13th Congressional District: the eli...

[NOTE: This is a letter I recently sent to my United States Representative, Rodney Davis, in regards to H.R. 610, a bill recently introduced in Congress. Much of the text was inspired by a Facebook post that I modified and then shared publicly. Feel free to use this text as a template for your own letters to your Representatives if you feel so inclined to contact them.] Dear Rep. Davis: I am writing to you in regards to H.R. 610, the so-called “Choices in Education Act of 2017.” It may sound like having a school voucher system is a good idea. As a fiscal conservative, I believe there are many instances in which competition and choice improves the overall quality of the organization, program, or system. However, public education should never be about pitting one class, one school, one district, or one state against another. Public education is about teaching all children in all settings. This is enshrouded in our Illinois State Constitution, which states in Article X Section 1: ...