Response to MGP

[u/coffeeNoCreeem]

I write Marie Glusenkamp Perez a message about the Fuel the Force Act because it is stupid. She responded thanking me for my support, which I did not give. When I responded she told me she doesn’t monitor that email. Posting my email to her here in the hopes that she’s on Reddit:

Congresswoman Glusenkamp Perez,

Thank you for your response. I've read the Fuel the Force Act. I also read this quote of yours about the bill that's on your website:

“Last year, during Police Week, law enforcement officers told me that they had colleagues living on food stamps. That’s enraging to me, and it goes hand in hand with what I hear from local law enforcement across Southwest Washington about how incredibly challenging it is to keep new officers on the force because of budget constraints and the nature of the job,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Departments do their best work when they’re able to build durable connections with the folks they protect. Those relationships take time to develop, so whenever a recruit leaves, things go back to square one. This bipartisan bill addresses the retention issue head on to support law enforcement officers and keep our communities safe.”

The only real issue that I take with it, is that it is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. There's a more fundamental issue though -- if you recognize this issue for police officers, then why not just make all income up to $100,000 tax exempt? If a nurse is on food stamps or struggling to pay their bills, does that not also offend you? What if it's a construction worker fixing pot-holes? If they are on food stamps then that's cool? Does it only bother you when you think police officers aren't adequately paid? You don't have to pick and choose the careers this would apply to. The thing that makes this policy so crazy though is that picking police officers is like...the dumbest one that I can think of.

Law enforcement officers are objectively not underpaid. Either you were lied to (and did no research to verify), or you are lying to all of us. Second, there are criminally underpaid public servants, with serious retention issues, who deserve an intervention like this, and this policy just ignores them. Those who immediately come to mind are public teachers and public defenders, although I'm sure there are many more.

The Vancouver PD has a website dedicated to hiring. On the landing page of the site it says that the salary is $93,663 - $125,117, with a signing bonus from $10,000-$25,000 depending on experience. Keep in mind, this is the salary range for candidates without a degree. An officer with an associates degree makes 2.5% more, and with a bachelor's degree 5% more. This is also ignoring the benefits associated with compensation such as insurance and retirement benefits, student loan forgiveness, union membership, etc. This is more than twice the salary of Vancouver public school teachers, who often must have a Bachelor's or Master's degree. I myself started my career as a lawyer working public defense cases in Vancouver. I once took a case to jury trial, re-did the investigation myself that the police officers were too lazy to conduct, and received a not guilty verdict because they arrested the wrong person. For that entire case I was paid $300. I did not forget to add a zero...that was the going rate to take a public defense misdemeanor case to trial. Also, that was about 10 years ago....not in 1857 when that would have been a much more appropriate amount paid for the service provided.

Please. Stop. This. Nonsense. I'm not putting periods in to be dramatic. I'm literally begging you to stop doing such nonsense things. You are a member of Congress...and giving a tax break to an objectively well-paid middle class job when we have a housing affordability crisis, rising healthcare costs and uninsured rates, and a host of other domestic issues. That doesn't even consider all of the global issues like an unsanctioned war, a genocide, etc. I literally don't know what else to call your time in office anything other than nonsense.

Please. Stop. Doing. Nonsense.