Dear Ms. Kaptur,
On Aug. 9, Toledo Free Press published an open letter that we, as a body of conservative constituents, wrote to you. In that letter, we expressed our concerns about your actions and voting record, and how they affect us as your constituents. We also requested a meeting with you in order to discuss these concerns.
Specifically, we identified the following issues on which you have acted at odds with the best interests of your district:

• Failure to honestly debate issues;
• Voting for legislation without personally reading and understanding it;
• Voting in favor of trillions of dollars in new federal deficits;
• Accepting the presence of “czars” in the Executive Branch;
• Voting for government ownership of U.S. corporations;
• Voting for “Cap and Trade” legislation; and,
• Support for health care reform that threatens liberties.

We stand by these grievances and maintain that your district deserves better representation than you are providing. You have not honestly discussed the issues with us. You have ignored our open invitation for you to contact us or appear at one of our meetings, and your only “public” meeting during the August recess was by phone, by invitation, with only pre-approved questions allowed. You do not reply to communications you invite from us and you ignore our wishes and comments. Your district deserves better than this.
You have not consistently demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the issues. Following Sept. 11, you likened al-Qaida terrorists to the Green Mountain Boys, heroes of the American Revolution. You support Cap and Trade, even though the “science” behind it is demonstrably fraudulent and will cause  severe economic harm to your district because of our reliance on coal-fired power plants. Your district deserves better than this.
You have failed to act in our best interests. You evidently believe that you know better than us what is best for us, yet you have voted for legislation that is harmful to us. Your votes for increased government spending burden us, and our children, with insurmountable debt, onerous taxation and continued high unemployment. Your vote for health care reform will impose further costs and taxes on us in addition to the economic hardships your other votes are exacerbating, while compromising our health care and our liberty. Your district deserves better than this.
You have not opposed unconstitutional practices, including: Government control of private enterprise and private salaries; appointment of “czars” who are unaccountable to Congress or the public; and, health care reform that is not provided for in the constitution and that violates provisions of the 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th Amendments. Your district deserves better than this.
You have not spoken out against the president’s radical leftist appointees, such as White House Communications Director Anita Dunn — an open admirer of Mao Zedong, under whose tyrannical regime a nation was impoverished and tens of millions were slaughtered. Your district deserves better than this.
You have not defended those who uphold the U.S. Constitution against these threats. When you appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Oct. 2, you meekly nodded as actress Janeane Garofalo slandered conservative protestors as racist because the president is black. Your district deserves better than this.
Ms. Kaptur, despite your passion for your district, you have ceased acting in its best economic interests.
You buy support with goodies, from cookies and water graciously served to constituents at your Capitol office to the occasional porkbarrel check you ostentatiously bring home for favored projects.
But your district suffers double-digit unemployment and an exodus of employers and taxpayers because, in no small part, of your failure to advocate job growth, lower taxes and reasonable energy costs. We don’t need handouts; we need a representative who meets her district’s needs while hearing, obeying and respecting all her constituents.
When you first campaigned successfully for this seat, you stated that one of your predecessors, Thomas Ashley, had served long enough. Next year, you will have equaled Ashley in number of terms served; thus, by your own standard, you will have served long enough as well, a point proven by your ongoing failure to represent your district’s best interests.
Therefore, we are dedicating ourselves to your defeat. Either retire at the end of this term or be voted out of office in favor of a representative who will:

• Hear and respond to all sides of an issue;
• Cast knowledgeable and fully informed votes, with sensitivity to their impact on the district and the future;
• Practice consistent fiscal responsibility;
• Elevate defending and upholding the Constitution from a slogan to daily practice; and,
• Put what is right for the district ahead of political correctness.

Respectfully,
Thomas Berry,
for The Children of Liberty

Contact columnist Thomas Berry and the local Children of Liberty group at http://www.meetup.com/The-children-of-liberty/.