The realities of your post explain exactly why I haven't bothered to write a single congressperson - wasted breath.  I strongly recommend that people first write Lou Dobbs and try to get his attention to this as part of his "War on the Middle Class" initiative.  He has the ear of a whole lot of people, and was credited with putting a stop to immigration reform (which probably would have flown through had it not been for the uproar largely prompted by Lou).

The other reason I haven't bothered to write a congressperson is because the situation is much more complex for these simpletons.  The whole story is never told, and is not reflected in any of the proposed/draft "letters to congressmen".  I've posted about this before, and what follows is MY UNDERSTANDING of the bigger picture based on a Forbes article two years ago.

Two of America's key measurements of productivity and economic health are GNP and Trade.  These basic measurements were established by FDR way back in the 1930's (FDR pulled together the greatest minds in the nation to develop these key measurements).  They were established so that FDR would have a way of determining whether his actions were helpful or harmful to our economic condition - trying to escape the Great Depression.  Thus, the things that are measured were things that were pertinent to that situation, at that point in time.  The measurements focused on production of hard goods, agricultural products and "harvested" resources (e.g., oil).  In GNP, IR&D expenditures are not considered.  In trade, IP is not considered.  Nope, the things that are considered are those things of importance in the 1930's American economy.

And this is why our economy is, in reality, much healthier than the "numbers" depict - the numbers reflect the tangible results about things that are no longer relevent.  Are we a net exporter of hard goods (no - not by a long shot), natural resources - primarily oil (no - not for some 50 years), agricultural products (far less than in the past - where do many of our fruits and veggies come from?)?

How much money is spent on IR&D?  How many jobs and innovations result?  And isn't this a large basis for our economy - now and into the future?  How much IP (developed via IR&D) is "sold" to industries in other nations via tech licensing?  Guess what - nobody has a clue, as these things are not being measured.  But it is fairly obvious that there is some significant money coming in from IP licensing abroad - offsetting the "advertised" trade deficit to an unknown degree.  And it is about our only "offset".  Remove it? Weaken it? With no real knowledge?  Incredibly stupid, IMO.

So step one in this whole argument should be to establish meaningful economic measurements that include items pertinent to the USA TODAY.  Don't tweak things till you have greater insight, and a basis for determining whether the political move turns out to be a good one, or a bad one.  As things stand, EVERYONE is clueless, and considering changes "in the blind".

There is a parallel here, IMO, to the immigration reform issue.  Ya gotta get a clue first.  IMO, don't even consider offering anything to illegal aliens until you have a clue as to how many are here (is it 12M, 20M or 30M? - we're clueless, and I personally suspect that the real number is much greater than the number typically thrown around for the past 3-4 years, which amazingly hasn't changed in that time - 12M - as if all movement across the border somehow stopped) and a way of controlling their entry/exit (e.g., is our move against employers of illegals having an effect? - are illegals leaving because of it?).  Get control of the border first, then get a handle on how many are here.  Also get a handle on how many are in our education system  - it is currently illegal to even ask (though schools are required to measure minority populations).  Could this be part of the reason our education system is falling apart?

If we could get Lou Dobbs behind this, it might have a chance.  I can think of nobody else in the media that would even give it a second thought, nor that has the "umph" to make the proper noises to an already agitated large audience.  www.loudobbs.com

JMHOs,

SGE