I can't believe I have to write the letter I'm about to write. I never thought we'd live in a country that would build a wall to keep other people out.

Ronald Reagan's most famous saying was probably "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!"  He also let in a whole lot of refugees from Nicaragua.   I have a lot of problems with Ronald Reagan and how his regressive policies set the stage for a lot of what's happening today in the Republican Party. But I don't think he had a bad heart. I think he would have been too empathetic to belong in today's Republican Party.  I'll say that about Richard Nixon for that matter, Hell I'll say it about George W. Bush.  That's where we are today.

I keep reading that the best way to be heard by your Congressman is to call them. Well... I'm not so great on the phone.  When there are pressing matters and issues of urgency where there's a coordinated effort to blitz congress with phone calls I think it works. Right now people are inundating their Senators (and remember on confirmations we only want to deal with Senators) asking them not to confirm Betsy Devos for Department of Education.   Call the Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask them to put you through to your Senator's office for that.    

Devos is awful, what she's threatening to do to the Nation's schools is unconscionable. I highly encourage you to do this.  I will probably do this as well.   I will for sure make a call when it comes time for the confirmation of Andrew Puzder for Secretary of Labor. He doesn't get the attention the others do but what he is threatening to do to the Nation's Workforce threatens all of us. Every working person (and yeah, even the business owners, believe it or not working people buy your goods and keep you in business) should be terrifed of this guy.

That's a diversion from my main topic today.  Today I am fired up about.... The Wall.  I'm pretty upset about the executive orders banning refugees as well and just how hateful they are to the rest of the world in general but if we stop The Wall, we embarrass Trump (which is barely even in the top 10 reasons not to build it).

I'm going to be e-mailing (and mail mailing) my Congressman Mark Amodei who even though he is a party line hack who ran the Trump campaign in this state, has also said some interesting things lately about not thinking there are the votes in the House to fund the wall.

Maybe he's persuadable, although he didn't exactly say the votes weren't there including his. And of course my friend Senator Dean Heller (who wrote me back a very nice non-committal form letter regarding my protest of Jeff Sessions's confirmation) will be getting a letter too.   What's fun about Dean is he's up for re-election in 2018, and our state went Blue.   It doesn't normally during off years but it could this time as bad as Trump is.

So here goes nothing

The Honorable Mark Amodei
332 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Amodei,

I am writing to ask you to please oppose any and all efforts by the Trump Administration to construct a wall on the Mexican Border.

I realize this was a campaign promise of his but if you check public opinion polling I think you'll find that the majority of Americans, even the majority of your constituents oppose building this wall.

What's more important than that is what's right. It is not right to construct a symbolic expensive physical barrier to keep others out. This is a slap in the face to one of our closest neighbors and allies and shows we do not respect them or their people.

When I think of walls I think of the Berlin Wall. I think of a man who once lead your party in more rational times, a man who let in thousands of refugees from Central America.  Ronald Reagan's finest hour was when he told Mr. Gorbachev to "Tear Down This Wall!"   Do we hate Mexico so much that we are willing to treat them like a Cold War Adversary? Especially when so many of our best citizens have immigrated from there?

Fiscally as a Conservative you can't justify this. This is not a good use of Taxpayer money and you should not buy a word of Trump's claim that Mexico will pay for it. They will not pay for it. The closest idea they've come up with so far is a 20% Tariff on Mexican goods.  Guess what? We'll be paying for that at the cash register.  Not to mention, Mexico will simply retaliate on our goods hurting American companies as well as American people at the cash register.  This spells disaster for our economy.

Finally, are you aware of how heartless your Party looks to the American people right now?  You are willing to spend $10 Billion on a wall (and admit it, we're going to pay for it), while you debate cutting health care to millions of people just because those people got the help under a law passed under President Obama. A law that repealing would actually increase the deficit (Which is why Rand Paul voted against repeal).

Finally, what will this wall actually accomplish? You don't think Illegal Immigrants (and by the way, their numbers are declining this is NOT a crisis) won't find another way to get into the country?  Most of them simply fly in and overstay their visa.   There are some people who get smuggled in by coyotes or swim the river.  A lot of them get caught, a lot of them get indebted to human traffickers.  You better believe those traffickers aren't intimidated in the least by this wall.

This ridiculous expensive wall will cut through private property, Native American lands, businesses, not to mention bodies of water (are we putting the wall in the middle of the Rio Grande or just on one side of it, and who loses out on the water rights there, them or us?)

Congressman. Donald Trump surrounds himself with Yes Men.  Please don't be a Yes Man. You don't answer to him or to Paul Ryan. You answer to us. We are watching your votes and expect you to do the right thing.

Thank you for listening to your constituents concerns.

Sincerely,

Mike Jones