Posted by:
azztekp
at Thu Jan 21 17:07:28 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by azztekp ]
In a letter to Full Senate EPW Committee Today
We the People
It's not hard to see why people are getting a little upset with our representatives in Washington. Legislation seems to be headed our way with no real attention to simple facts and common sense. The S373 bill for example is something people from all walks of life are seeing as how the political machine really works.
Everybody knows that by regulating snake keepers all across the country it will do nothing to fix the feral Python situation in the Everglades.
Everybody knows the federal government has failed to capitalize on USARK's offering of $10,000 to United States Fish & Wildlife Service to establish the basis of a program to get pythons out of Florida and into qualified hands that can securely and humanely house them for the rest of their natural lives.
Everybody knows now that the recent record freezing temperatures severely decimated the Python population in all of South Florida.
Everybody knows that the S373 bill does not address the disposition of the estimated over four million boas and pythons in captivity in the United States, representing about $1.6 billion in asset value and $1.8 billion in annual revenues that S373 will overnight make worthless.
Everybody knows that if aprox 160,000 Pythons are in the Everglades and over 14 million people have visited the Glades in the last 10 years there would have been at least one incident -but there wasn't.
Everybody knows that there has never been an incident since records have been kept of anyone being injured by a feral Python- ever.
Everybody knows that if there is no public safety issue, then this bill really isn't about the conservation of the Everglades.
Everybody knows that in the last 10 years there have been only 5 confirmed cases where handlers (who accepted their own responsibility for personal safety) were killed by pythons.
Everybody knows that more people die from choking on cupcakes daily than have died from all US python incidents in the last 10 years combined.
Everybody knows that this bill will increase unemployment, when our unemployment is the highest it's been for as long as many of us can remember.
Everybody knows that with the present research showing the Everglades population as identical genetically, it's almost certain that these pythons did not come from the pet keepers this bill hurts the most.
Everybody knows that the best description for the supposed science used for this bill would be junk science, and that it has been discounted by all legitimate scientists who have reviewed it.
Everybody knows that special interest groups like the United States Humane Society have actively lobbied for this bill and their radical agenda supersedes the will of the people.
Everybody knows that the appropriation of over 1 billion dollars hangs in the balance for Everglades restoration if S373 is not passed, making it quite obvious that this, as usual, is about money, not what's good for the people.
Everybody knows that the demographic known as the Reptile Nation, comprises more than five million Americans and all of them are intensely interested in protecting their legal rights to possess and work with reptiles."
So what are we the people to think when Senators continue to ignore public opinion. When we get form letters with staged answers to our letters, that show nobody even read our concerns. When none of the facts seem to used in decision making. When it really looks like this bill has nothing to do with the feral pythons it is was suposed to be addressing.
People are beginning to wake up and see that maybe not all is right in Washington and maybe it's time for a change. Reptile forums are buzzing about how we should vote in up-coming elections. People from all sides, Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree, this is not a party issue, it's a lack of representation of all people. The reptile nation of more than 5 million strong is cohesively coming to the realization that this bill, and how our representatives vote on it, is our singular directive on who to get rid of at the next election.
I think when we all know what's going on, including our representatives in Washington, it just comes down to a gamble for elected officials. On one hand you can do what's right,(prompted in this case by strong public opinion), or you can do what a few misguided activists want (and maybe pay for), regardless of what is right or true, and take your chances. It's easy to see why this angers people so much. Who likes to be used as a pawn, with your livelihood hanging in the balance, when the only thing holding your fate is a decision made by someone who demonstrates you are not important. As things change around us, most of us take stock of what, why and how these things happen, and now more than ever, we know what to do about it.
Pete Bandre'
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 we the people - azztekp, Thu Jan 21 17:07:28 2010
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