Thursday, January 18, 2007

Dale Kildee on Troop Escalation?

Think Progress is keeping track of where every member of Congress stands on troop escalation. So, where does Dale Kildee (MI-D) stand? That's "unknown" at this point.

I called Kildee's office to ask his position, but the man who answered the phone said I would have to speak to Kildee's chief-of-staff. Unfortunately, the chief was in a meeting, so I would have to leave a message on his voice mail. I asked if he would get back to me today, but was told he had meetings scheduled the rest of the afternoon.

I then asked if he could just tell me what Rep. Kildee's position was on increasing the troops. I explained that I tried searching his website and the media without success and simply wanted to know where he stood. The nice man again said he couldn't help me, but I was welcome to call back later on. (If they have meetings scheduled all day, what was the point of calling back?)

Anyway, not to be deterred, I decided to write the Congressman and ask him to clarify his position (and I also let him know I oppose an escalation). If I get a response, I'll let you know.

I wish our elected officials would post this kind of information online. Why should the taxpayer have to call, write or Google? Kildee has a website, but it's extremely out-of-date. It's actually scrolling press releases from last October. Come on, Congressman, get with the times and update your website, okay? Inquiring constituents want to know your position on these issues.

2 comments:

Lew Scannon said...

Kudos for trying. Myu congressperson is a Republican, so I know where he stands, and I would write and tell him how I think he should vote, but I think he'd just direct me to some propaganda piece that tells me I'm wrong, just like he did when I told him to vote against the Iraq invasion resolution.

Kathy said...

Lew, who is your congressperson? Kvatch brings up a good point - blogging. I think every politician should have a blog that is kept current and up-to-date. We pay their wages so we have a right to know if they represent their constituents beliefs beforehand, not days or hours before a vote takes place.