washingtonscene
of staff of the Congressional Joint Commit- tee on Taxation, was the only witness. Murray observed that families, econo-
mists, and every serious commission that has studied the deficit have concluded spending cuts alone cannot put the budget back into balance. The committee has to ad- dress both spending and revenue, she said. The testimony centered on corporate and individual tax rates. Committee mem- bers repeatedly asked whether Barthold’s staff could project revenues resulting from changes in the tax code. Barthold explained they could offer some modeling, but the results should be taken critically, noting tax policy changes sometimes drive different and unanticipated behavior. For example, changing the deduction for mortgage interest might alter consumer interest in buying a home and not produce the anticipated revenue. Hensarling noted “the ability, wisdom, and consequences of addressing our debt crisis through tax increases will continue to constitute a rigorous debate by our committee. ... My hope, though, is that we may be able to achieve rigorous agreement that fundamental tax reform ... can result in both revenue from economic growth ... and more jobs for the American people.”
Do Legislators M In 2010, MOAA members generated
more than 1 million communications to Congress. And that’s just counting the var- ious media options we have the ability to monitor — messages through our website, phone calls through the MOAA-sponsored Capitol Hill hotline, tear-out letters and postcards in Military Officer, etcetera. In the past few months alone, you’ve
Read Your Mail? Members’ messages pack a powerful punch.
OAA’s tagline is “One Pow- erful Voice,” but the real power of the organization comes from
the willingness of our 370,000 members and 400-plus state councils and chapters to generate a large volume of grassroots input to Congress.
generated more than 300,000 email mes- sages to Congress. A regular question from members is, “Do those form emails, letters, and post- cards really get listened to?” While the impact can vary with indi- vidual legislators, issues, and volume of mail, the short answer is “definitely.” Obviously, what matters most to legisla- tors is the passion expressed by the con- stituent and the volume of similar input. The most powerful communication is a short, hand-written letter. But relatively few actually do that. Many aren’t sure who their legislators are or what their addresses are. Others are uncertain about the specifics of an issue or what they should say. That’s where MOAA can help — by pro- viding suggested text, electronic systems that automatically load your legislators’ email addresses based on your home ad- dress, and pre-addressed tear-out letters and postcards in the magazine. How do we know legislators pay at- tention to that communication? Because they and their staffs tell us — and others — they do. At one Armed Services Commit- tee hearing, the chair had hearing tables stacked with thousands of MOAA-gener- ated tear-out letters. He told government witnesses, “If you think we’re going to ig- nore these letters, you need to think again.” We also know they listen based on legislators’ cosponsorship of our key leg- islation (which always rises after a mail campaign) and by our success in winning enactment of legislation.
At one Armed Ser- vices Committee hearing, the chair had hearing tables stacked with thousands of MOAA-generated tear- out letters. He told gov- ernment witnesses, “If you think we’re going to ignore these letters, you need to think again.”
NOVEMBER 2011 MILITARY OFFICER 35
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