Sam Rasoul will work for change

Submitted, letter the the editor
Published: October 15, 2008

Sam Rasoul hasn’t been to Congress. Republican Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, the incumbent in the 6th District, has been there for 15 years (even though he pledged to serve no longer than 12 years). Sam is young and energetic and ready to work for change. In spite of all the experience that he has (or maybe because of it), Goodlatte’s voting record shows only that he cares more about big business and President Bush than he does the people he is supposed to represent. The non-partisan Drum Major Institute for Public Policy gives Goodlatte a D in 2003, an F in 2004, an F in 2005 and an F in 2007 on votes that would benefit the middle class (see themiddleclass.org).

After eight years of unconscionable misgovernment from both the president and Congress, we need to elect people to Congress who have the good of the country in mind and not the interests of large corporations. The time for Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Gas and Big Pharma to buy off our leaders is over. We need leaders who know how to make decisions that will help the people and who have the integrity to say no to the money offered by big business lobbyists. We have a global climate crisis to solve. We have a broken medical system to fix. We have an unprovoked war of aggression that is bankrupting our country and needs to be stopped. Our future energy needs demand environmentally friendly solutions.

It is not right for many of our working families to not have access to health care, either because they can’t afford personal health insurance, or because their place of employment can’t afford to pay the premiums. New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the number of uninsured Virginians is growing (see the Commonwealth Institute’s analysis at thecommonwealthinstitute.org). Many people are forced to declare bankruptcy trying to pay their medical bills and many people can’t afford their expensive medications.

Goodlatte votes for big business. When Sam goes to Washington, he will work for us!

Betsy Grzybowski
Lynchburg