Bonus! My Correspondence with My Congresswoman
I’m in nearly constant communication with my GOP Representative. Here’s an example exchange.
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Note: Everything in this post is my personal opinion. If you don’t agree, set up your own Substack. Or, leave me a comment.
I received this email this morning from my Congresswoman, Young Kim of the 40th District of California, CA 40.
On Fri, May 23, 2025 at 3:06 AM Congresswoman Young Kim <CA40YKIMA@mail.house.gov> wrote:
May 23, 2025
Dear Mr. Fisher,
Thank you for contacting me to express your thoughts on H.R. 1. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
H.R. 1 was introduced by Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, on May 20, 2025 to establish the Congressional budget for FY26, uplift working families and small businesses struggling from persistent inflation, and strengthen vital programs like Medicaid for our most vulnerable citizens who need it.
As you may know, I voted Yes on H.R. 1 when it came before the House of Representatives for consideration. Over the past several months, I have met with hundreds of community members and local advocacy groups and heard their message of protecting access to care for those who need it the most. In talks with House leadership and my fellow members of Congress, I was able to stop cuts to vital Medicaid services. Please know that this legislation ensures that Medicaid will be protected for the most vulnerable Americans who the program was intended to serve, including pregnant women, seniors, children, low-income individuals, and people with disabilities.
I also stood up to House leadership in negotiations to deliver much needed tax relief for small businesses and families by raising the cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $40,000, a 400% increase. Additionally, the bill cuts taxes for working families and small businesses, includes a $2,500 child tax credit, and eliminates taxes on tips and overtime pay, among other provisions. As a result, families in my district will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money to invest in their communities and provide for their loved ones.
On May 22, H.R. 1 passed the House and now awaits further consideration in the Senate. While we may not see eye-to-eye on this issue, rest assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should future legislation come before the House for consideration.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel welcome to call my office at (202) 225-4111 or write me a note at any time. To stay up to date on my work for you in Congress, I encourage you to visit my website and sign up for my e-newsletter at youngkim.house.gov, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @RepYoungKim.
Sincerely,
Young Kim
Member of CongressClick here to subscribe to my e-newsletter
This was a response to an email I’d sent her strongly requesting she vote no on Trump’s Big Billionaire Bonus bill.
Here’s my response to her response, with links to sources for the information I provided to her1:
Re: Medicaid and Tax Cuts
Dear Congresswoman Kim,
In a recent email you said, “Over the past several months, I have met with hundreds of community members and local advocacy groups and heard their message of protecting access to care for those who need it the most.”
Since you’ve never had an in-person town hall meeting I suspect the “hundreds of community members and local advocacy groups” you’ve met with tend to be folks who already agree with most of your positions.
CA 40 has a population of around 754,000.
You can’t just meet with a few hundred Chamber of Commerce members, then say you know what your constituents want.
While it’s likely that there are people who don’t technically qualify for Medicaid that are receiving benefits the percentage is likely to be very small.
Here’s a graphic from the New York Times that uses Census Bureau data to estimate how many of the “undeserving poor” (if such a thing exists) are receiving Medicaid benefits.
If only 3% of those receiving Medicaid are lazy bums who sit around smoking dope all day, I’d say the program is doing a pretty good job.
It appears to me that the expanded work requirements will have two major effects:
1) Expanded (and expensive) bureaucracy to develop methods to find and remove Medicaid “cheats”. I thought the GOP wanted to shrink bureaucracy.
2) More paperwork for working recipients to fill out, likely resulting in eligible recipients losing coverage because they don’t know how to fill out the forms, don’t know they need to or just don’t have time because they’re working multiple jobs while trying to raise a family.
As eligible families lose coverage they will put off preventative care, resulting in a massive, expensive increase in delayed care at Emergency Departments.
Rural hospitals and clinics will likely have to shut down because they can’t afford the high expense of emergency care. The same goes for rural nursing homes for the elderly.
Remember, these are human beings. They (and you, and I) are doing the best they can with the resources they have available.
I don’t think providing minimal healthcare through Medicaid to folks who have no other option is a bad idea.
If anything it’ll save money in the long run by allowing them to receive care before medical issues become an emergency.
The Republican Party seems to have the attitude that the working poor are lazy and don’t deserve any kind of support.
I was raised in the Presbyterian church and this doesn’t strike me as a very Christian attitude.
Finally, the biggest reason folks on both sides of the political spectrum are against this bill is that it extends and expands the TC&J Act tax cuts, which primarily benefits millionaires and billionaires and actually increases taxes on the poorest among us.
Not to mention that it increases deficit spending by trillions over the next 10 years.
If there is one thing I agree with Chip Roy on it’s that our current deficit spending is unsustainable. He wants to drown the Federal government in the bathtub. This is where our views diverge.
I think increasing taxes on the wealthiest people and corporations among us, those who have made huge profits due to the free society we live in and can actually afford to pitch in their fair share, is a better way to go.
If you would like to get input from your constituents who may disagree with your positions, please schedule an in-person town hall.
Indivisible.org has many events scheduled in and near CA40. You have an open invitation to speak at any one of them.
We promise to allow you to speak and listen politely and to your views.
Remember, those in your district who disagree with you are still your constituents.
If you like your job and want to keep it, please meet with us.
Thanks for your time.
Gary Fisher
Lake Forest, CA 92630
https://seniorgeek.substack.com
I’m re-posting this photo with a link to news coverage of this event:
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If I could have embedded links into the email I would have.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but at 75 (76 in July) I feel it’s time to pass the torch to someone much younger.
Old white guys have been running things for far too long.
Gary Fisher: This letter by you to Young Kim is outstanding and very impressive. You make ALL the important points.
WHY DON'T YOU RUN FOR CONGRESS? You are EXACTLY THE SORT OF PERSON WHO CAN DO THE JOB RIGHT, as it desperately needs to be done. I urge you to consider this idea seriously, if you haven't already. And THANK YOU for directing your intellect to this "Exhibit A" of how real issues that deeply matter to all our lives get smoothed into the patterns of "government as usual" so nothing happens. Unless someone like you takes a clear look and responds as you did.
(btw I worked for US Senator Samuel J Ervin, Jr, d N.C, on the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers of the Committee on the Judiciary, on the US Senate Hearings leading up to but not including Watergate Hearings).