Lane Thornton is Burning (Part 1 of 535)

I am luckier than most people.  Most people are sad about how much money they make until pay-day, when they are happy.  I am happy about how much money I make most days until pay-day, when I get incredibly angry about how much taxes I pay.  I have decided that instead of accepting this as inevitable, I will continue to be angry every time I pay taxes and to help remedy the situation, I will write a letter to a congressional representative.  This time, I wrote to Senator Bernie Sanders (I, VT) for two reasons: I am originally from Vermont and I have written to him before.  The text of my letter is below:


"Dear Senator Sanders:

A bit over four years ago, I wrote a letter to your office over concerns that money was being spent on helping Vermont students attend college that wasn't available to me because I dreamed of studying something not offered by any institution in Vermont.  Instead of addressing my concern, I received a form letter pointing me to a website with some scholarship applications on it.

Despite the lack of assistance, I decided to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute where I studied aerospace engineering and graduated with a GPA of 3.89.  Not only did I study hard, but I also worked a job and ran cross-country and indoor and outdoor track and field.  I interviewed for and was offered a very good job at a large aerospace company that I believe I earned through the years of hard work that I put into my education.

Here I am, writing to your more than four years later because again I feel like I am being failed by my government.  I have more than $50,000 in student debt and I now pay between a quarter and a third of my salary to the government in taxes.  I hear a lot about "the rich" paying "their fair share" but it seems like I'm paying a bit more than my fair share and I'm not sure the solution is to tax other people more, no matter how much money they have.  What upsets me is not how much money I have or don't have, but what percentage of the money I earn by my own hard work the government takes from me.

I have recently moved to Connecticut from Vermont and although you no longer directly represent me, in my heart I am still a Vermonter and I would like to know that someone hears my voice.

Thank you and I look forward to your reply.

Lane Thornton"

I don't expect any action from Senator Sanders, but it is a start.  I also don't expect to reach every senator and representative as they will continue to change and it would take over 20 years to contact each one at the rate of one every two weeks.  It does, however, make me feel like I'm more engaged in the political process.

-Lane