January 4, 2006

• And then there was one...

  
  

   Just before the end of 2005, I received the following email:

  
  

  "Thank you for taking the time to contact our office regarding your request for assistance with your mother’s Social Security disability claim.

  
  

   Provisions of the Federal Privacy Act however, prohibit us from making inquiries on any individual’s behalf without that person’s expressed written consent.  Accordingly, please have your mother complete a privacy release authorization and return to our Columbus casework office.  You can get the form by going to www.dewine.senate.gov, click on Constituent Services, Casework Info, then “Click here for our printable privacy form.”  The signed form can be mailed or faxed to our office.

  
  

   We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.  In the meantime, if you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our casework office.

  
  

   Teresa A. Frank"

  
  

   That's right, you read correctly; after nearly Three MONTHS have passed since I first wrote them; Senator Mike Dewine's (R) office finally replies. I followed the link and printed out the form for my mom to grant Senator Dewine permission to inquire on her case and I mailed it out on Tuesday, January 2nd. This is - of course - the second form that my mother has mailed to an elected official. The first one was to the hardest working member of our struggle; Newark City Council President Marc Guthrie (D).

  
  

   Furthermore, City Councilwoman - At Large (elect) Irene Kennedy (D) - whom came over to my house to interview my mother and I about the situation so she (as a member of a Catholic Social Services group) could attempt to seek out alternative methods of expediting this operation - called my mother near the beginning of this year to update her on the progress of her mission. She informed my mother that they have officially ran into a "road block" and have discovered that one of the main reasons why the government is dragging its feet on this matter is because my mother and father were not married for 20 years (they were - instead - married for about 11 years)!!!

  
  

   Now why would this be such an issue? Well, first of all; my father was honorably discharged from the military while they were married (which meant that we - their children - qualified for VA Benefits), and my mother and father were married and in Germany - because of my father's job as an MP - when Chernobyl blew up and started all of this crap!!

  
  

   So, because of the FACT that my father bailed out on his marriage vowels in pursuit of satisfying his self-serving, egotistical sex drive (he had a knack for cheating on mom when he was "on the road" as a truck driver, a profession that he is still in to this day), my mother has to suffer the "you didn't wait 20 years" excuse from these bureaucratic bastards!! Personally, I find myself blaming Repug sponsored cuts to VA benefits for the lack of motive to help out military families.

  
  

   Now, - as Irene Kennedy even told my mother - it is likely that the Local Democratic Party's massive "OSM" writing campaign will be needed. As you have seen above, 10 out of the 11 Officials that I have written have - in fact - responded. Before the next phase of this struggle begins; I will present a progress report on each official with a certain grading scale to measure their performance.

  
  

   As it looks right now; Senator George Voinovich (R) will receive an "F" for the very fact that he and his office have ignored this struggle for almost three months!! Before the apologists start spewing their ignorant rhetoric in response to my criticism; let me note something here:

  
  

   Senators Voinovich and Dewine have the SAME amount of Constituents that Governor Bob Taft has. In fact, they are all equally busy; when you consider the legislative duties of both Senators and the Executive duties of the governor, but Mr. Taft still found the time to be amongst the FIRST FIVE respondents to my original letters that I wrote in late October!! Dewine is responding just now and Voinovich hasn't done so at all; THERE'S NO EXCUSE for their incompetence!!

  
  

   If you want to get technical, Taft, Dewine, and Voinovich have more Constituents then the other 8 that I wrote to. Stay tuned for the upcoming "report card"...

  
  

  Tonight's Conclusion

  
  

   I'm sorry that I didn't have the time to do my usual full-scale world news report tonight, but since college has resumed; I find myself with less research time during the weekdays. Either way, I will have the world update this weekend. I assure you that the report will - as always - be interesting and very informative.

  
  

  Until then...

  
  

  TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS

  • 5:37 pm
  • 6 Comments